Commandments of Capturing
by Wrathie Winsre
Summary: A Crossover AU Universe Fic. A panel of experts? Conducting Polls? Measuring Love Points? Aren't you just cheating your way into a girl's heart! Let the Capturing God show you what, and how a Real date should be like!
1. Prologue

Commandments of Capturing

**Prologue**

**..**

Original Title: The World Only God Knows / 神のみぞ知るセカイ and Date A Live/デート・ア・ライブ

Original Concept by Tamiki Wakaki & Tachibana Koishi

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: An AU world where 'Date A Live' & 'The World Only God Knows' happens simultaneously.**

* * *

**Author's Notes: So, here we go again. No beta this time. Give your comments, and I might just continue this. All this after I marathoned the first season last night.**

* * *

..

Katsuragi Keima was less than amused to a similar email popping up in his PFP when he was sifting through his hundreds of emails for the day.

First, an introduction to this boy who was granted the title of, **Capturing God. **His name was Katsuragi Keima, age seventeen, and second year student of Maijima Academy. He had jet black hair, wore glasses, was average of build and height and from the outside, looked the same as any ordinary high school student in Japan.

However, that was far from the truth.

He was the **Capturing God**, the god of galge in the known world. The one who sat at the top of everything that has to do with 'capturing' girls, be it in the _ideal_ or in the _real._ If there was one person in the world that was preferred to be consulted over any _capturing _event, it was Katsuragi Keima, or the **Capturing God**.

Now, the **Capturing God** was known in the internet circle as well as the galge industry as the individual who revolutionized and saved the industry from collapse a few years ago. One could say that he single-handedly revived the galge industry into the million, perhaps billion dollar industry, with hundreds of releases per month, millions in revenue and fans all around the group.

Even with that title and achievement, it was still a stretch to consider him the epitome of all that had to be done with 'capturing', wasn't it?

To those that doubted him, they should be ashamed of themselves. For the **Capturing God**, was also a member of the Weiss Capturing Squad. The Weiss Capturing Squad was a squadron of elite demons that were selected to recaptured Weiss, Denizens of Hell, that had escaped from their confinement in New Hell.

As a member of the Weiss Capturing Squad, Keima was partnered with a demon, Elysia de Rux Ima who was currently masquerading as this sister, and his role was to chase away the Weiss using Love.

That's right, the **Capturing God** was 'capturing' girls in the _real_ as well, and he has never failed a single capture so far despite the difficulties in the real.

It was also due to his efforts did his buddy, Elsi, managed to capture the most Weiss in the Weiss Capturing Squad in his short stint together.

..

Keima was very displeased due to the contents of the email:

* * *

'To the **Capturing God**,

We have heard of your abilities in conquering any girl that you wish. Although that is more than possible in dating-sims, we have conducted extensive tests that showed that it is almost impossible for you to replicate your results in the real world.

However, we do not doubt your abilities and claim and would like to invite you to our organization to prove, once and for all, whether you are deserving of the title that you have earned with our panel of experts in Japan.

Please, do not reply this if you do not wish to accept our invitation.

-Yours Sincerely,

The Commander of Fraxinus,

_Ratatoskr'_

* * *

..

'Elsi, did New Hell send this again?'

After showing Elsi the email, Keima frowned at his partner even as she continued scrutinizing it. This email was obviously a challenge, a challenge issued to the **Capturing God**, targeted and written to rile him up and subsequently to accept the challenge in a fit of rage. Only Keima would never do that, he had his fair of detractors and he had chosen to silence them with his own abilities.

His website had always been the first to publish the detailed walk-through, FAQS as well as recommendations and reviews for every galge that came out in the market. Even the most difficult, and plot twisting tale had been captured and ended by the **Capturing God** way before any individual or _team_ could complete it.

Ordinarily Keima would have simply ignored this email and went back to his usual life, but he had already been screwed once over by a similar email by Elsi's boss in New Hell.

There was no way that he'll get screwed over by a similar email again.

'Ra... ta... to... skr?'

Elsi was struggling to pronounce the name, and Keima frowned before tapping her lightly on her head, reminding her that wasn't what she should be concentrating and concerned about.

'Elsi, Is it a mail from New Hell? I'm not getting another bug demon again! One is enough!'

Keima fumed even as Elsi blinked in understanding before clapping her hands together.

'Right! Kami-Onii-sama, I'll do a check right now!'

Even as Elsi pulled out her raiment, which was an invention of New Hell that helped her to do many wondrous things in the world, Keima frowned when his mother, Katsuragi Mari, interrupted the two of them.

'There's another space quake alert... it has really been quite bad this few years, hadn't it? To think that it was so peaceful a while back too.'

..

Spacequakes, a relatively unknown and yet destructive phenomenon that was recorded over thirty years ago when it all but destroyed the core cities within it. The Soviet Union, China, and Mongolia had all but disappeared in a single instant.

It was a very terrifying 'natural' phenomenon that hadn't been explained up till now. When Keima had questioned Haqua, another demon of the Weiss Capturing Squad, about spacequakes, she had been unwilling to divulge information about it.

To Keima, her denial of information spoke volumes about that phenomenon. It simply was not natural, and it was an issue of high significance that made it impossible for Haqua to talk to him about it, even if he was part of the Weiss Capturing Squad.

Still, even as spacequakes did happen more and more frequently nowadays, and even if it happened mostly in Japan, Keima wasn't too worried about it.

Thanks to his own donation drive, he had installed an underground bunker in the Katsuragi Household, in Cafe Grandpa.

Unsurprisingly, besides initially protesting about the cost of the bunker itself as well as offering to split the cost between the two of them, Mari hadn't quite objected to her son in spending so much to specially construct one for his home.

Simply because Keima had taken a large portion of the bunker to store his games for safeguarding.

That aside, Keima had Elsi with him, and despite her normally ditzy nature, Elsi had always had his safety as her top priority. It did help that her raiment made it possible for her to pull Keima out of the way, and even guard him to some extent.

Yes, Spacequakes did not worry Keima at all, but it did worry Mari, who reminded the two of them of the danger that they might face if they took spacequakes lightly.

'So be careful, Keima-kun. Although we aren't near a spacequake hotspot, it's always better to be safe than sorry.'

Mari repeated to them before going back to the kitchen, where she was preparing dinner for the three of them.

The Katsuragi household currently consists of him, Elsi and Mari. Keima's father and Mari's husband was overseas for his company. That and Mari had all but thrown him out of the house, and threatened him about divorce due to Elsi's addition to the family.

Elsi had introduced herself as the illegitimate child of his father after all, and it nearly broken the family apart. Well, the adults had probably resolved this amongst themselves, but Keima still held a small bit of resentment against Elsi for almost destroying his family.

He didn't hold much attachment to his family, but a family was family... so he there was just a little resentment. It was tiny, seeing

that it was really probably nothing to worry about, but it's still there.

..

'Kami-Onii-sama, Kami-Onii-sama! It's not from New Hell! Chief said he didn't send any other contracts to you... Oh, and it doesn't have any magical properties whatsoever! Then who send this? Kami-Onii-sama... would it be dangerous if you replied?'

Elsi replied cheerfully even as question marks continued to form over her head. Even if Elsi was his buddy and partner, she wasn't the brightest bulb in the room. But Keima was used to it, and he sighed before making his mind up.

Whatever this Commander was, and whatever the organization of _Ratatoskr_ was, he was mocking and challenging him. A panel of experts you say, his accomplishments could not be replicated in the _real_.

That was utter rubbish, he was **God, **he transcended the _ideal_ and was above it at all times. Even if this might be just a ruse to get him to show himself in the _real_, such disrespect should not be tolerated.

'Well then, let the games begin.

* * *

..

To be totally honest, Katsuragi Keima, the **Capturing God** was impressed by the organisation Ratatoskr as well as the invisible air-ship, Fraxinus that he was currently on.

The organisation, Ratatoskr had been more than willing to engage with Keima over an anonymous chatroom over an encrypted channel. In fact, they had actually requested that in the first place, insisting that they do accept and actually laud the efforts of the **Capturing God** to maintain his anonymous status. Keima too, realized that whatever Ratatoskr was, and what they were up to, they were desperate to conceal their tracks as well.

But, the tests that Keima were subjected to, was interesting as well. It had started off with questioning him of many different games scenarios, taken from different games from different eras to determine whether he was in fact, the **Capturing God,** and whether he was worthy of the title.

Needless to say, Keima could answer all the questions posed in those scenarios not because he remembered the games, but he could simply see the ending of the heroines within the scenarios.

The second part of the test was to test his knowledge with a program that was developed by Ratatoskr themselves. It was a simulation program that was years ahead of the current games that he was currently playing on his PFP, and if anything, that itself was worth taking part in this experiment.

It was only after he gone through the experiment without barely being phased did they admit that it was part simulation as well as part of the _real_. Apparently he had been conversing with another individual, a real girl, who did not know he was part of a test as well.

He had managed to, according to Ratatoskr, increased her love points a considerable amount, a feat that was made exceptionally incredible due to the short amount of time they had been conversing as well as the lack of information given to him.

Keima took that news with a pinch of salt, he had been unsure what was the grading criteria of the second part of the test, and there was a chance they were just buttering him up to pull him into another trap.

Keima had very negative experiences when invited by an organisation in the _real,_but Ratatoskr had been very accommodating and respectful of his title after passing their tests.

..

So that brings him to where he was right now, in the invisible airship, Fraxinus, facing the commander, a young red haired and twin-tailed girl by the name of Itsuka Kotori.

If the commander was surprised or curious about his lack of surprise at the scenario around him, she did not mention it. She did however, find time to scrutinize him even as he continued playing on his PFP.

They had arranged a meeting for the final test given to him by Ratatoskir, and if he succeeded, they would fund his expenses as the **Capturing God** till his retirement as well as to continue to defend his anonymity. Keima wasn't interested in the deal, he was however, interested in the final test, which was why he was here.

For all that he had seen so far, Keima had not been teleported to somewhere else before, and it was certainly a strange experience.

Thankfully he had Elsi and Haqua tag him with a raiment, no doubt they were trying to locate him right now. Hopefully they will keep their presences hidden till he got the truth from the commander in front of him.

'So... you are the **Capturing God**, the god of conquest and the one who can 'capture' any girl, are you?'

'… That is accurate.'

Since the commander has acknowledged his title, and even seemed more than willing to entertain his title in the _ideal_, Keima replied her patiently, that was the least he could do.

'Now tell me, what is this all about.'

Keima continued curtly, not even letting her have a word in as Itsuka Kotori continued studying him.

'Now, now, Katsuragi-san, I understand that you are surprised and anxious by the events here, but please be patient.'

The man who had brought him here, Kannazuki Kyouhei, the vice commander of Fraxinus, smiled at him while trying to calm him down.

Sadly, calming down was the last thing in Keima's mind as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and continued.

'Honestly, I should have expected this. But I have a lack of information as to see the ending with. Whatever it is that I am currently embroiled in would no doubt be kept from the public. That can be inferred from the technology that all of you are utilizing are beyond the capabilities that is readily available to the public. If that was not enough, the two of you manoeuvred and led me to an area that was obviously in your control before bringing me here, alone and of my free will. All of you obviously require my help, my assistance willingly. So answer me this, what disaster are we dealing with here that you would need my abilities for.'

Keima's words made everyone present blink in surprise, and they only snapped out of it when Keima started tapping his feet impatiently at the two of them.

..

'G-Great, you're great! I can't believe we almost didn't want to contact you!'

Eventually however, the commander, Itsuka Kotori uncrossed her arms while grinning triumphantly at him. Keima was not disconcerted at least in having a young girl take the title of a commander, he had seen much, much worse, only in the _ideal_ of course, but no one needed to know that.

'Let me re-introduce myself again. I am the commander of this airship, Fraxinus, Itsuka Kotori. May we have the honor of your name, **Capturing God-sama**?'

Keima was unsure whether it was a jibe at him, but he replied accordingly as he narrowed his eyes and scowled.

'No doubt you have tracked my identity down the moment you decided to contact me in the _real._ However, since you have taken the initiative, I am Katsuragi, Katsuragi Keima.'

'Well then, Katsuragi-san, I am happy to welcome you aboard my ship. To be honest, we were unsure whether we should contact you at the start. You being nothing more than an internet rumour, an insider in the industry, or possibly a group of individuals that worked together for the title.'

Keima nodded his head in acknowledgement of her concerns, he had gotten mails and articles written about him in his blog before, but he had never really paid them much heed. Kotori gestured for him to follow her while she spoke, and after nodding to Kyouhei, Keima did follow Kotori down the hall way and towards another door.

'After we did track you down, we were unsure of your abilities...'

Kotori paused when Kyouhei hurriedly reassured him that they would continue to protect his identity, and that it would never leak out. Keima wasn't that impressed and his eyes narrowed till Kotori spoke again.

'He's right, we must apologize for doing that...'

Keima saw the twitch in Kotori's eyes before she controlled herself, and bowed to him briefly in apology.

'Please do accept my apology, on behalf of the crew of Fraxinus and our organisation, Ratatoskr.'

'… Apology accepted. It is not that I have a choice in the matter.'

Keima shrugged while commenting that he was here, alone, in the middle of possible hostile territory and that he really, didn't have a choice.

'Am I not right, Itsuka-san?'

..

There was another large pause before Kotori chuckled again, this time doubling in her laughter as she clutched her stomach and stamped her foot to stem the tide of laughter.

'Ahahaha! Great! T-This is great! I can't believe we... we really missed out on such a person! Ahaha! Y-You.. you're perfect!'

It took a while, but she recovered once again, this time with a bigger grin than before.

'Alright, I'm more than willing to keep your onboard, Katsuragi-san. It's nice to have someone who is very aware and acknowleding of the situation. I really, really am starting to like you now.'

Keima ignored how Kyohei suddenly turned white, but he simply shrugged and followed Kotori without a single word into the next room, which was the bridge of the Airship itself.

'I will answer all your questions now, Katsuragi-san. I hope that you will believe what I am saying from now on.'

* * *

..

'So in essence, to stop further this particular disaster from destroying the world, we have to save those girls with the power of love.'

Keima summarized the entire mission plan of Ratatoskr with a single line, causing silence to fall upon the entire airship again while he sighed.

It was such a clique and common plot line that he himself was already involved in one. A great disaster awaits and the necessary thing to save the world was love. How many times did he see this shallow and basic premise in the _ideal _and possibly in the _real_ by now.

'That is of course, not including what would happen in the middle during the entire mission. However, how _many_ of them are there?'

Keima continued on without even waiting for any one of the members of the Fraxinus.

In essence, Keima's summary was more or less accurate. Spacequakes were caused by beings caused spirits, spirits were almost exclusively girls, girls who were from another dimension that caused those spacequakes when they visited Earth.

The organisation had no idea why or how they did that, they just knew that they were the ones who caused Spacequakes. To make matters worse, all of them were unnaturally powerful, with each of them capable of summoning an 'angel' that was capable of mass destruction. The only way to stop spacequakes was to kill those spirits, or like Keima had explained earlier, through love.

Somehow, Keima could see the ending of this without a hitch.

One thing to note was that the commander, Itsuka Kotori had been laughing madly again, this time pounding a hand on the screen that she had been using on at his remarks.

It seemed that they really weren't used to, or able to come to terms with someone who could see the 'ending' like he could. Then again, he was the **Capturing God** after all.

'A-Ahaha.. Ahaha... I... I didn't... we didn't... ahaha... tell you about... there being more than one...'

Kotori managed to gasped out while Keima simply rolled his eyes in response.

'If it's as simple as there being one of them, there wouldn't be a special task force to deal with them, would there?'

Keima was also made aware of the AST (Anti-Spirits Team) that was deployed during every Spacequake to take down the Spirit by force.

'Ahaha.. y-you're... incredible... A-Alright then... y-you made your point... We don't even need to test you right now...'

Kotori managed to finally stop laughing as the rest of the team nodded their heads. Keima had been impressed with the equipment that the Fraxinus had, equipment that would enable them to provide surveillance, to monitor body functions to determine the mood meter, the love points and even had an army of men under their control to create the ideal scenario event.

What he had been unimpressed with, was the team of 'experts' that Kotori had gathered. They might be experienced in their 'fields' but Keima really doubted it. He too had been unimpressed with having them vote on 'choices' to actually determine how to answer the potential heroine. It was an insult to the heroine, and he felt very strongly against it.

Especially since each of them were unique.

'So, what is my role here. What is it that you require of me? Are you asking me to help to save the spirits?'

Keima asked patiently even as he locked eyes with the commander, he had pegged her to be a Tsundere a long time ago. But this was important, and he had no intention of fishing for information just yet.

Not when, he still had other things to be worried about. Dealing with two different world-saving missions was surely going to take it's toll.

'No, you'll teacher someone to help save the spirits.'

Somehow, even if it did sound easier, Keima felt that it was going to be harder than he thought.

How right he was going to be.

* * *

The curtain have been drawn, the stage have been set. Now, let us have a brief look at what could be.

A world only **God **knows, where his commandments are _Law._

_.._

* * *

**#1 One shall always respect the heroine.**

'W-What... what do you mean by that, Keima-kun?'

Tohka asked in shock as Keima gently eased her away from him, prying her arms from his as he turned to face her directly.

'I'll say it as many time as you want to hear, Tohka-san. I do not like you.'

'B-But... but that time... w-what you did...'

Tohka was wearing up now, her eyes was watering as she stared at Keima helplessly. She had been so happy to be with him, even if he was colder than he had been before, just being with him made her happy! Too happy in fact, and she felt her heart would burst when Keima smiled at her again in the afternoon.

So, why was he being so cruel and willing to crush her heart like that? Did something happen to him while she was away?

'Di-Did something happen? Did someone tell you anything, Keima-kun? W-Was it that girl? That... that... she... she must have said something right? Whatever she said, don't believe her!'

'No, that isn't it. I'm saying this of my own free will. Just like how I said I'll save you, I also do not like you.'

Keima's firm words as well as the patient way he said that to her was like arrows piercing into her heart, and Tohka felt her knees wobble till Keima grabbed her shoulders to steady her.

But she didn't need his help, not when he had just crushed her heart like that, and she angrily pushed him away.

..

'D-Don't touch me! You said you didn't like me, Keima-kun, so why... why do you still care about me?! I... I don't deserve to live here... y-you shouldn't have saved me if you are going to tell me this!'

Tohka shook her head angrily even as she backed away from Keima, then she felt a pair of hands grab hold of hers again. It was a familiar pair of hands, it was Keima's hands, and she tried to shrug it off only for him to catch hold of her again.

'W-Why are you doing this! Stop it!'

Tohka angrily looked up to see Keima staring at her again, his eyes soft, just like how he had been before and she froze in mid-step again. His eyes, they were so beautiful, and so captivating... and... so... resigned.

Just like hers before, Tohka realized, and she calmed down a little even as Keima spoke.

'Have you calmed down a little, Tohka-san?'

'… K-Keima-kun?'

Tohka didn't trust her voice, but she spoke out nonetheless, wanting some clarification about this bombshell that he had dropped on her.

'I don't like you, Tohka-san.'

His words, once again tore through Tohka, but she tried to held on as Keima continued unrelentingly, not letting her escape his harsh words.

'I saved you like I promised, not because I have to. It is because I care for you, you were someone that was more than someone that needed to be saved, you were someone that I _want_ to save. But you are not someone I like... I am sorry I took your first love, Tohka-san... but you won't be the only person who had felt like this. Who hadn't really forgive me for that...'

Tohka's mind was reeling, she really couldn't understand all of what Keima was saying, but she latched on to the last thing that made sense to her.

'The only person?'

'Yes, it should be fair that you should know.'

Keima gave a small sigh, a resigned one as he guided Tohka to her feet, and towards the end of the rooftop, overlooking the view of the city.

'There are others that I would save, in the same method, in the same way... with perhaps, the similar reason. You deserve to know, Tohka-san... and regardless of whatever you might feel, even if you hate me... I will continue doing that.'

Keima didn't allow Tohka to say anything as he released her hand and turned his back to her, whispering as he declared his intent to her.

'As _they_ deserved to be saved, deserve a chance to know, and a chance to understand. Even if they would hate me for it.'

..

* * *

**#2 – Everything is never at Face Value.**

'Who are you... Are you here to kill me as well?'

The black-haired girl, with her hair flowing down her back, rustling in the eerie light, asked Keima in resignation. Her posture, straight and proud, was marred by the weary look of despair in her eyes.

Even her voice trembled slightly in exhaustion as she pointed her sword at him.

For all that, Keima did not even blink, as he shook his head briefly.

'No, I am not.'

'Do not mock me! You humans... are all the same! All liars! The last one said the same thing!'

The girl lashed out, raising her sword and striking it at Keima without hesitation. No, not without hesitation as she stopped mid-way in her strike. The reason for that being? Keima had walked closer to her, not even registering her look of anger, and rage by stepping into the range of her strike.

'Why, did you stop?'

Keima asked her patiently, knowing full well that it could be his death, he had walked straight into it without hesitation. It was something that was unthinkable, but he was **God,** and he could already see the ending of this.

'I-I won't stop the next time! N-Now go, if you really... really don't want to kill me... Go!'

'I refuse.'

'Then you're here to kill me then, aren't you?! If you aren't afraid of death, then go!'

'I am afraid of death, but I'm not here to kill you.'

'T-Then, w-why, why are you here?'

'I'm here to save you.'

His words made her eyes widen in shock, but Keima wasn't done yet as he waited for her next reaction. He was rewarded with a blush spreading across her face as she was the one who backed off from him instead. She, the Spirit who was capable of destroying an entire city, capable of killing him where he stood, backed away from him.

'W-Why, why would you say that? H-How could you say that!'

She declared angrily, but Keima could tell it was nothing more than a flustered reaction, something born out of pure desperation and uncertainty from his own declaration to her.

'As it is the truth. I'm here to save you. You could have killed me where you stood, yet you did not... that is enough for me... that, is why I will save you.'

'W-Wha- ? What are you talking about! Make some sense!'

Even as the girl started stomping her feet in anger, Keima chuckled, a sound that made her froze and blushed again. Oh yes, he could see the ending of this a mile away.

'I'll declare this right now. I will save you, and to do that, I shall be the one who will take away your freedom, and your first love. This, I promise you.'

* * *

**#3 – All the heroines wished to be saved.**

'Y-You... are you mocking me? Are YOU MOCKING ME!'

Tokisaki Kurumi screamed at Keima even as she found herself unable to hide her frustration. Nothing had gone well so far, absolutely nothing. She had been killed twice already and had nothing to show for it.

Why, why didn't this man fall for him yet? Why could she just eat him like how she did with the others?

Why, why did she... she... just can't do that? Was he different? Yes, he was different, he always had been different. That's why she was after him, right? Whatever he had done so far was not normal, neither was the other smells that she could sense beside him.

He, Katsuragi Keima, was different. And... And so...

..

'I'm not mocking you.'

Keima reassured her even as he kept his distance from her, him continuing to stay a few feet away from Kurumi as the transfer student suddenly looked up at him.

'Then why are you rejecting me? Why can't you just... just accept me? I've tried everything, I wanted to... I said that I liked you, that I wanted to go out with you? Why, why can't you... just...'

'Because I didn't want to reject you.'

Keima's words made her froze, and her cheeks flared out even without thinking.

'W-What? W-What... what did... y-you say?'

Kurumi looked up again, unable to believe what she just heard, and she flinched away when she felt a hand on her chin, gently caressing it.

'I did not want to reject you, Tokisaki-san.'

'R-Re... reject me...? Y-You didn't want... to... do... that?'

Kurumi felt her knees wobble, and she dropped down like a puppet with it's strings cut, unable to do anything but to look up at him in shock.

'I won't reject you, Tokisaki-san. I will save you, that's why I can't accept you now. Not till, you tell me what it is that you are hiding.'

'T-Tell... you?'

'I'll wait, for as long as you want. Won't you tell me what you are hiding?'

* * *

**#4 – If you give up, it's all over.**

'I'm not the hero here.'

Keima answered softly as Itsuka Shido looked up from his desk, the boy which he had replaced, and who hadn't had the will to go through with his destiny was someone which he loathed.

He was the protagonist, as to who was his heroine, Keima would never tell the rest. But he was sure that Shido himself knew, and because he knew, Keima loathed him for not taking action for his heroine.

Shido had his chance, but he had blew it. And because of the situation, he had taken his place. Now, in order to earn back his heroine, he'll have to go through an even harder trail than before.

'Then who are you? You're the one who saved the three of them, aren't you? Why don't you do something about _this_ then.'

Itsuka Shido spat back in anger, while Keima simply took it in his stride, it was a side effect of him taking his role. He had been aware of that, and he had been preparing for this instant for a very long time.

'I would, but I would not be fair to _her_. She's fighting it now after all, something that had began because of you.'

Keima noticed that he froze when he said that, Keima hadn't even spoke her name, but he knew instinctively who it was that he was referring to.

'I didn't cause this! You did!'

'Yes, I caused this incident to happen... but it would never have happened if you had not given up.'

Keima's eyes hardened a moment before Shido punched him in the gut, felling him even as he started stepping on his stomach and then his PFP in anger.

'How could you understand?! I'm the one who ran away! But you honestly couldn't expect me to go through that, to go through what you said! I... I'm not you! You can lie to them all you want... but I... but I... to her, I just...'

After a while, Itsuka Shido was crying as he continued to take out his frustration at him.

'You gave up.'

Keima spoke again, his voice a little pained due to how he was still being kicked and Shido backed away from Keima immediately. Even as Keima slowly stood up, Shido backed away from him.

'You, gave up. You should never have given up. Even if you have failed once, you should have tried again. And again... because, she was your heroine. Not mine, never mine. Even if it might be fleeting, even if I had been the one who had saved her. You were the one who truly helped her, them... All of them. I'm not the hero here, you are.'

'...N-No... I couldn't... not when, you'll do better than me.'

Shido finally stuttered out, his head dropping down when confronted with Keima's accusation. He probably knew that a long time ago, but had refused to accept it. He had continued to use Keima as an easy way out, and was being punished because of this.

'… I am may be **God**. But you are a protagonist. And a protagonist, will never fail. Go now, and save your heroine.'

'Katsuragi-san...'

Itsuka Shido continued to stare at the bruised and battered Keima, before running off. Because he did, no one saw him slumping down to a chair, coughing and groaning in reply.

'Honestly, he's so thick.'

A familiar voice rang out behind him, and he felt a pair of hands hug him from behind even as there was no one behind him.

'You're my hero, you do know that right? Not him, never him.'

'… But I do not like you. Never will.'

'Ahh... but I won't give up either. Just like how you told him.'

* * *

All this and more, in the next instalment of: _Commandments of Capturing_

Disclaimer: In no circumstances will the author be held responsible for any false promises or any disappointment created by the trailer above.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Ah, my beta is going to flip when he sees this. Anyway, please R&R, if you like it, Fave it. I'm not sure if I should continue this, but I'm sure I'll be compelled to if I get enough feed back. If you dislike it, or if you see where I can improve it, do tell me too! **


	2. The Will of God

Commandments of Capturing

**Chapter 1 – The Will of God**

Original Title: The World Only God Knows / 神のみぞ知るセカイ and Date A Live/デート・ア・ライブ

Original Concept by Tamiki Wakaki & Tachibana Koishi

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: An AU world where 'Date A Live' & 'The World Only God Knows' happens simultaneously.**

* * *

**Author's Notes: Well, here we are. Chapter 2 of CoC. Thank you, _Kaiser Dude_ for beta-ing this, even if you know next to nothing about it. Thank you.**

**Now, before we begin, some author's notes!**

**I'm quite flattered to see so many responses to the crossover, so I've decided to go ahead and to continue this. Without dropping more details about the story itself, let it be known that I've seen your comments and request for a split story where either Keima replaces Shido, or he is in a dedicated teacher role and not both. Weighing in the considerations, I can definitely see the pros and cons for it.  
**

**However, as per the Capturing God, the entire concept of CoC have always been built on the third way out of all of this. Even if it's embarrassing to admit this. So bear with me, it'll take a bit to settle the concept in, but let's hope you keep supporting me in the future.  
**

**With that out of the way, a personal plea from me. I'm looking for a beta-reader for CoC, my requirements are simple.**

**1. You must know about Date A Live, with TWOGK knowledge as well would be great, but not absolutely necessary.**

**2. You must be contactable through either FF. net or through gmail.**

**So please, drop me a pm if you are interested. The main role of my beta is to check for consistencies, help me with canon-knowledge and plotting with the story together with the normal, vetting through of chapters.**

**So with that, let the first chapter commence!**

* * *

..

'Welcome back, Kami-Onii-sama!'

Katsuragi Keima, the **Capturing God** was welcomed back by his sister, Katsuragi Elsi after a long session with the members of Fraxinus. He didn't quite approve of all of the plans of Ratatoskr, but he had to admit that at least they were taking a much more rational approach to the situation then AST(Anti-Spirits Squad) was taking.

It was a complicated situation, that was made even more complicated when Keima sensed that Haqua had broken into the ship while they were in the middle of negotiations.

It seemed that despite the technology that was available to Ratatoskr, which was amongst the best in the world, rivalled only by AST themselves, they were still unable to sense the demonic magic of New Hell.

That was a relief too, as far as Keima could tell, Ratatoskr was only able to dig out the information that Keima and New Hell had _wanted _them to have. To put it more detail, basically the humans were unable to detect that their memories and records were modified and changed by New Hell as part of his mission to capture the Weiss in the world.

Keima considered telling Elsi about the situation, and he planned to do so with Haqua's presence. For now, Keima was satisfied to take a wait and see approach to Ratatoskr as well as their goals. Haqua's background check would do wonders here, and he was glad to see that Haqua was both willing as well as eager to help them in this situation.

Apparently even Haqua was surprised to know of Ratatoskr, the existence of spirits, as well as the AST, or perhaps Haqua had just been surprised that Keima would be dragged into this world. Keima had doubts believing that New Hell would not have known of such an association, especially since both of them were using what one could say, modern 'magic'.

Due to his own nature, as well as him knowing exactly what he should ask, or perhaps it was Itsuka Kotori's own desire to entertain him, Keima had found out many things that one would call Top-Secret information.

Who ever knew that it was truly 'magic' that allowed Japan to rebuilt after so many Spacequakes. The usage of technology that could cause their user's thoughts to become reality, albeit in a small area, was unreal. It could even match up to the dimensional, and shape shifting abilities of New Hell's Raiment! That aside, knowing that there were to large companies who were competing with each other in the supplying, development as well as deployment of such frightening advanced, and potentially dangerous units made Keima feel a little concerned.

Which he promptly dismissed as it was none of his business, let the _real_ take care of it.

..

'Did everything go well, Kami-Onii-sama?'

Elsi smiled while following Keima to the kitchen, it was just idle talk. Elsi should know first hand what had happened during the conversation, or perhaps she was just worried for him.

'Yes, well, I'm not too sure about that. I did not decline them, nor did I truly agree to assist them. That said, I did offer several suggestions that might actually help the system out... Perhaps they'll be fine with that. Somehow, I doubt so though.'

Keima shrugged while Elsi nodded her head, probably trying to understand as much as she could of the situation.

Unfortunately, Keima really doubted that Elsi understood what he said, or even if she did, didn't quite pick up on the implications. Still, that was fine, Keima expected that of Elsi, but he was surprised when Elsi declared that the both of them would be cleared to take some time off together.

'Time... off?'

'Mm! Now that Kami-Onii-sama has a new mission, Chief Dokuro told us that we could rest from our primary mission now.'

Keima froze at that, but Elsi continued by saying that New Hell probably knew about this all along.

'Kami-sama, I didn't tell them anything... They just told me... I think, that New Hell expects and believes you able to be able to help them. Kotori-san said so as well, didn't she? She said that she didn't know whether to contact you at first. Maybe, New Hell told them they had to ask you for help?'

Elsi's words made Keima have a severe headache, for it actually might make sense, in a way. Itsuka Kotori was right, the **Capturing God** no doubt existed, but since he had not actually accepted any media attempts to contact him, nor did he shown any interest in the _real_, his myth has always been one of the more obscure and yet prominent ones.

Everyone has heard of the **Capturing God**, millions has visited his website despite it being hosted on a very old server, but it only proved that he was the one, and the original before anyone of the fakers. With the resources of Ratatoskr, it was certainly possible to contact him. But, at the same time, would anyone even attempt to contact him in the first place for such a mission?

Even if Keima doubted and was not convinced of the panel of experts that they had in their crew, Keima had to grudgingly admit that if it came to experience in the _real_, they were pretty much experts in their fields.

What Keima couldn't really accept was how they reduced each heroine to such vulgar things like stats, possibilities, as well as mood ratings. Actually the last part was actually quite a good indicator, if Keima had that, it would make his captures less painful as well.

Still, if he did that, he would simply be betraying his ideals. A true protagonist would never give up till he succeeded in saving his heroine.

It was something that Keima believed in, and even if he was met with setbacks, mistakes as well as uncertainties, there was nothing stopping him from going on forward with his capturing attempts.

Doing anything less would be an insult to the heroine that he was capturing.

'Always respect the Heroine. Remember that, Elsi... but is it really fine for us to do this? To...take... off, like you said?'

Ordinarily, Keima would be mad, or at least angry that Elsi hadn't told him that she could take off and ignore her duties for a while. However, the situation now was becoming to get even more confused, and perhaps even more sinister as well.

If New Hell itself was willing to acknowledge the situation as being at least equally, or more important then the current encounter, perhaps it was a situation he should put more thought into.

'Mm! But only if Kami-Onii-sama is willing to take on the secondary mission. Chief told me that it's all up to Kami-Onii-sama. Both are important, but... it's up to Kami-Onii-sama to choose.'

'Really now, I didn't really get a choice the last time.'

Keima managed to give Elsi a dry smile, which caused her to pout and blush. That was quite true, he didn't know what he was getting sucked into at the start, but now it was different, now the **Capturing God** would have a choice. Perhaps it wouldn't be as bad as it was the last time?

* * *

..

'I've got the report that you wanted, Katsuragi,'

Haqua reported as she was helped into Keima's room by Elsi, the siblings were waiting for Haqua's report before they started discussing the new mission on hand. The severity of the situation was increased when Haqua told them that she too had been given the same request as Elsi, to take some days off to help Keima out if he needed it on his new mission.

'So you got the same orders as well... does that mean that the entire mission is sanctioned by New Hell? Or does New Hell have a part in all this.'

Keima looked at Haqua evenly, and the demon paused for a moment before looking over at Elsi, who was just as confused as she usually was.

'… Alright, I guess... if the Chief had give out such orders... telling you a little about the situation doesn't really hurt. You've learned about most of the situation from those humans at the...'

'Ratatoskr.'

'Right, Rat-something... Ratatoskr... right, sorry... A-Anyway, back to topic. What I couldn't tell you before is that... we knew about the existence of Spirits... and we suspect that Weiss had something to do with it. Unfortunately, we couldn't really be sure about it.'

'The Weiss... were responsible for the Spacequakes that happened thirty years ago?'

Keima asked sceptically while Haqua shrugged helplessly.

'I really don't know! But that's what the superiors suspected! At this point, we really don't know much about them as the humans they always chased away the spirit before we could make contact with them. Knowing the identity of the spirit is just as important as capturing the Weiss. They are, after all, powerful beings who could destroy the world with their abilities. It doesn't help that they could summon Angels... they might be from Heaven too... We simply don't know at this point.'

Haqua's confession and detailed explanation of the situation made Keima frown, but he finally gave a sigh after accepting what Haqua had said.

Seeing that she really hadn't given him that much information, even after coming to a decision to tell him that, she was probably telling the truth.

So, New Hell and the people on Earth really wanted to know more about the Spirits huh? It sounded more like a crossover rather than a single premise now. That aside, it was also quite disturbing to know that even New Hell was worried, and unable to do much to the spirits at all.

'Tell me something, Haqua.'

'Mm, what is it, Katsuragi?'

'Could you... fight with a Spirit?'

'Eh?'

Keima's questions made Haqua froze, before she remembered one of the footages that she had watched together with Keima. It showed a solitary one-one-one engagement between an AST personnel and a Spirit, this time one codenamed as 'Princess'. The two women, for some reason, AST was staffed and manned solely by females. Keima had plenty to comment about that, but refrained as it was probably for the best.

Back to topic, the two women had duelled together for a total of less than thirty seconds before the Spirit had overpowered the AST personnel with her sword, nearly killing the woman in the process.

It was also quite disturbing to see that the AST Personnel looked no older than a high school student at best. The **Capturing God** suddenly had less and more faith in the _real_. It was really a hard decision to decide which was better, but it was a story for another time.

However, from the entire set-up, the scenarios, the characters as well as the setting, Keima was able to deduce a few possible endings with the information that he was given off the bat.

What he needed now, was to meet the full cast of the Ratatoskr. There had to be someone missing there, it had been agreed that he himself was going to be an instructor and if possible, chief adviser to the person in question.

That person was no doubt going to be the protagonist, and Keima hoped that the protagonist was willing, and able to take on the burden of his new task.

..

Haqua, who had frozen even since Keima's question, finally snapped out of it and told him bluntly that there was no way that she could compete with a Spirit with her current level.

'They are too powerful, and they... well, we don't know what kind of power they are using in the first place. I mean... you humans have studied Spacequakes right? Do you have any idea what powers they are using? Are they using magic? Or are they using some kind of... I don't know, do they summon summon or something? I just can't fight that thing, it's inhuman! And that human too, is that really a human?'

Haqua was obviously flustered as she herself had mentioned about Angels not so long ago, still, Keima took it in stride, and forgave her. She was out of her depths here, something Keima was used to, and they had no time to argue over such small, and minor details.

'They draw their powers from Angels... Each of the Spirits that AST and Ratatoskr had discovered or tracked had been recorded summoning an Angel as part of their weaponry.'

Keima answered softly while turning to Elsi, his partner had been quite silent throughout the entire discussion, and he nudged her to get her to contribute as well.

'Ah, Kami-Onii-sama... What is it?'

'Do you have anything to add on, Elsi?'

'Ah, no, Kami-Onii-sama.'

'Nothing at all, Elsi? We are going to take part in another mission, facing Spirits who Haqua have admitted that she could not match or even defend against. Are you not even worried about what would happen?'

Keima's worries were not only for himself, but for Elsi as well. The younger demon was responsible for safeguarding him during all his missions, but beyond that, Elsi and Keima's lives were tied. If either one of them fell, the other would have the same fate befell them as well.

Keima had no intentions of dying, he was **God,** and for **God** to be fell by a heroine was a disgrace. Especially since he had made the decision to always experienced the _Bad End_ the last out of every game. Those particular endings were always somewhat of a lie to him, a world where he had failed. Therefore, if he had a choice, bad ends would never exist in the world. Keima would not tolerate failure, but more than that, he would not tolerate a Bad End. Even if it killed him, Keima would never allow that fate to befall a heroine!

'I'm worried... but I'm not... worried.'

Elsi admitted sheepishly while scratching her head. Keima and Haqua both stared at Elsi, and the younger demon blushed even more as she tried to explained herself while being more and more flustered by the second.

'I'm worried about Kami-Onii-sama, Haqua and myself, the mission too... and many things... Like whether Kami-Onii-sama would make the Spirits mad, whether the Spirits are Weiss, what could Kami-Onii-sama help them in? Many things... but Kami-Onii-sama... I'm also not worried because I know Kami-Onii-sama would be able to do what he promised to do.'

'Mm... and what did Katsuragi promise do to, Elsi?'

Even if Haqua looked confused at Elsi's long monologue and narrative, Keima was satisfied and happy with Elsi's answer. It seemed that he had given Elsi too little credit, something which had been quite impossible before.

'That Kami-Onii-sama would save all of them, the _heroines_. That's what Kami-Onii-sama told me and promised me before! If it's Kami-Onii-sama, I believe he would be able to do it!'

* * *

..

'Good night, Haqua~'

Elsi smiled cheerfully even as she wished her best friend a good night. The discussion about what Keima should do in this scenario had dragged on the entire night, and Elsi was feeling drowsy herself.

Elsi felt more than a little bad that she wasn't contributing as much as she could to this new mission that Keima had been offered. Elsi said offered, because she had no intention of accepting this mission with Keima if her Kami-Onii-sama was not willing to help out. This mission could only be accepted if two of them accepted, even if Haqua was willing to help out, Elsi would never act against Kami-Onii-sama's best interest, even if it was to go against him.

Elsi had understood the danger that Keima would put himself in if he accepted as she remembered what had happened in the capture of Guido Yui's Weiss. The Weiss had been so powerful that she had been unable to capture the Weiss by herself, and so destructive that it had literally blown a large chunk of the roof away when it had escaped.

It was also the first time that Elsi had seen her Kami-Onii-sama really show any concern for her, seeing how she had been knocked unconscious by the Weiss before it was captured.

Another strong reminder was how all of her friends, and comrades in the Weiss Capturing Squad were unable to stop the Weiss of Kasuga Hinoki from it's path of destruction when it was released from it's host.

That was truly a disaster on an epic scale, and if Haqua said that the Spirits were on par, or even possibly stronger than them, Elsi did not want Keima anywhere near them.

Not because she was worried for herself of course, she would give up her life for her Kami-Onii-sama in a heartbeat, but it was exactly that Elsi was hesitant. If Haqua had no way of meeting a Spirit head-on despite being the ace of the class, there was no way that Elsi would be able to do any better. She... wanted to protect her Kami-Onii-sama... and the best way to do that was to tell him that she didn't want him to take the mission.

But, in all of honesty, how could she? How could she do that when Keima was right in the first place? That he had a choice, that in the first time ever, he had a choice to decide whether he wanted to get involved. To do some good, to help people with his powers?

Elsi couldn't say that, and so she turned to look at her Kami-Onii-sama, still gaming by himself on his 'throne'.

'Kami-Onii-sama...'

Elsi whispered softly while walking towards him, and subsequently kneeling beside him. She placed a hand on his arm, and tugged on his sleeve, trying to get his attention hesitantly as she was worried that he would be mad about her interrupting him again.

However, it was different tonight, and Keima looked up from his PFP to look at Elsi, inviting her to continue even as he kept his eyes on her, and not on his PFP.

Keima, he wanted to know what Elsi thought, what she felt, and what she wanted to say that she did not say before.

But perhaps what she wanted to ask was not what Keima wanted to hear as he frowned when Elsi asked him again whether he wanted to accept the mission.

..

'That is not the question I expected to hear, Elsi. What is it that you really feel, Elsi? Would you, really accept this mission if I said I wanted to do this?'

Keima asked patiently even as Elsi looked up at him in confusion, before looking to the side, almost guiltily actually as she knelt down instead. It looked for a very weird sight if anyone else was around. Her, Elsi, kneeling beside Keima as the **Capturing God** crossed his legs on his throne. If one was extra imaginative, one could almost imagine the two of them posing for a mural to be displayed in a church. That of **God** and his accompanying **angel,** but that was actually quite a stretch, and Elsi was a demon, not an angel at all!

'So, what do you really feel about this, Elsi? I want to know what you think.'

It took a while for Elsi to muster her thoughts, as well as her own courage when she finally did reply. Her voice soft, clearly a whisper that could barely be heard in the room, considering the amount of games that Keima was going through, when Keima turned everything off.

It was a gesture that made Elsi just gasped in shock, Keima really wanted to listen to Elsi's thoughts this time! Knowing that, Elsi lowered her head, and told Keima that she did not want Keima to accept the mission.

'The spirits are dangerous, Kami-Onii-sama... I … I might not know much about them, but Chief Dokuro told me to never approach one, and to flee if I ever see one. I... I don't want anything to happen to Kami-Onii-sama, at all! I... But, if Kami-Onii-sama wants to go, if he thinks that his ability will help, which... which it definitely will... I will help. I will protect Kami-Onii-sama.'

Elsi turned redder and redder when she finished, while Keima simply nodded his head in acknowledgement. Who knew what was going on in that head of his, but what he said was as surprising as it was natural to Keima. Elsi should have known, but even if she did, it was still a shock to her when Keima smiled at her. It wasn't a happy smile, it was a triumphant one as he flicked away some stray strands of hair that was out of place from his fringe.

'I don't think you'll need to do that.'

'Kami... Onii-sama?'

'I'm the **Capturing God** after all, the Spirits, they heroines. And as heroines, all of them always, wish to be saved. Remember that Elsi... Heroines always wished to be saved.'

Elsi didn't understand, she still didn't after spending so long with Keima... but throughout this whole journey, that same _commandant_ would be echoed time and time again.

* * *

..

'I'm glad you accepted our offer, **Capturing God-san**.'

Keima nodded to the commander, Itsuka Kotori even as she smiled in satisfaction at him. He had her pegged as a tsundere before, but he knew that the confidence she was putting on was a facade. Haqua's reports had done wonders here, Keima knew that Kotori was very much a bro-con, that was, she really liked her older brother.

Or was hell of a good actor, Keima had seen many in his time. One of the best there was in the business was Nakagawa Kanon, whoever knew that the top idol was actually an insecure girl who just wanted someone to acknowledge her?

Keima's past history aside, Keima had Haqua and Elsi conduct as much background checks as possible on all of the staff of Ratatoskr, he wanted to know everything, and anything about the organisation. And he was going to start with the crew of the Fraxinus, whether they liked it or not. Keima was not being petty or getting back at them for tracking him down like that.

He just wanted to know more, in a _capture_, information was key, and there were no limits as to what one should do to get information.

Simply knowing that Itsuka Kotori was capable of holding two different personalities, one that was possibly determined by the color of her hair accessory would no doubt help him in the future. Keima did not know how or why, but just knowing that would no doubt give him an edge in negotiations.

It also made it a little harder for him too, knowing that Kotori had different personalities only made it harder for him to believe anything that Kotori showed or told him in face value. It did not help that the vice-commander Kannazuki Kyouhei had a masochistic part of him that made him extremely unreliable when the commander was around. No, correction, when ever she threatened punishment actually.

Still, Keima acknowledged that it could be worse. Especially when Kotori was actually reasonably respectful to him, no doubt a side effect of what he had deduced, and questioned them about a few days before.

One wouldn't really have expected Keima to accept such an important and dangerous mission without preparing for it, would you?

..

'I thought hard about it... the deal that you offered me notwithstanding, I suppose putting my skills to the test in the _real_ was part of the appeal as well.'

Keima replied patiently even as he followed her down the corridor to the bridge of the ship again. To his surprise, the panel of experts were no longer where they were before. This was a drastic change from before, but Keima did not feel like pointing it out as he waited patiently for Kotori even as she jumped up to her seat.

'What are you standing around for, Katsuragi-san? I'm sure that you'll be eager to start the briefing as soon as possible?'

'I most definitely would like to do that, unfortunately, I'm not offered a seat yet. It would be rude for me to take any of the seats that have already been occupied.'

Keima replied evenly while playing his games, he had already been doing so when he was transported into the Fraxinus, with Haqua following him into the ship as well. Keima hadn't been as foolish to ask Elsi to infiltrate into the ship, but instead he had taken the direct route and asked if his sister would be able to accompany him as well.

Naturally, that request had been denied, even if Keima had managed to get wind of what might be a veiled threat when Kotori mentioned something about Elsi having a lack of traceable records. Still, Keima kept his poker face on when Kotori turned to glare at Kyouhei, who had a very eager look on his face even as Kotori delivered a flying kick into his mid-section.

'Where is the seat that I had prepared for Katsuragi, Kannazaki! Get it out, now!'

Even as the vice-commander undressed to presumably fold and treasure the shirt that had been kicked by Kotori, Keima continued with his games. He did pause for a moment however, to remark to Kotori that her actions would only serve to encourage him further.

'May I suggest being gentle to him instead? If you truly wish him harm.'

Keima deadpanned even as Kotori stared at him before grinning, and nodding her head in acknowledgement.

'Well, I'm glad to see that you've coped well here, Katsuragi-san. You've made profiles for all of us, haven't you? You've pegged Kannazaki nicely... not that it's hard, what about me then?'

'A tsundere sis-con.'

Keima answered without any hesitation, and was promptly vilified when Kotori turned red even as Keima added on to his statement.

'With a split personality.'

Kotori was unable to reply this time as she had degenerated into coughing, her eyes wide as Keima simply shrugged while playing his games.

'Ahem... That... aside.'

Kotori was struggling to keep calm, this time by tugging at her hair ribbons till she taking a deep breath seemed to have really helped her keep her cool. When she was done, Kotori started scrutinizing Keima again, she herself knew that might be just a lucky guess, or perhaps she had been too easy to read for someone like him, that much was possible... but if he really was as good as he seemed to be. She was right in giving him free rein to plan his own training module for him, for her big brother, Itsuka Shido.

Shido's going to need all the help he was going to need after all.

But it was very unnerving to have someone read her like a book so easily, and what's more, he didn't even seem to mind or to care that he had just did that. Kotori really wanted to kick some sense into him, but she had the feeling that if she tried that, or did that, it would only cause something bad to happen to her.

And in the face of someone who was such a master of words like he was, that was dangerous. Very dangerous... Sticks and bones may hurt one's bone indeed, but words... now, words were severely underrated. They would never ever, _not_ hurt you. Don't let that old saying make you think otherwise.

..

'This, is your seat, **Capturing God**-san.'

Kotori still gave Keima the respect that he deserved as she gave him a small nod even as another command chair rose up from, placed slightly in front of hers, and above the rest in a sign of respect for his status, and his standing.

Even the vice-commander didn't get to sit in that position, and Keima, carrying himself normally, nodded before sitting down after Kotori. Since he was acknowledged, and given the respect that he deserved, Kotori deserves the same. She was the commander after all.

'Thank you for your praise, Commander.'

Keima gave her a small smile even as Kotori blinked before smiling back as well. The both of them had acknowledged each other's respect for one other, and as a result, made it much easier to work with each other.

At least, that was what Kotori thought. Keima on the other hand, found this trend to be a little unnerving. Perhaps Ratatoskr had found something else about him to warrant such high expectations for him? It was one thing to be underestimated, Keima actually took some joy in proving someone else wrong. Besides, it's much easier to surprise someone if they had low expectations of you, having higher expectations would naturally make things harder on him as well.

Somehow, Keima found that he didn't quite like that thought.

'Well then, shall we begin, Katsuragi-san? Today's agenda would be for you to give us some input on the training plan that we have devised to enable Shi-, I mean, our participants to be the best in 'capturing' a girl, human or not. You said it yourself, we are intending to save the Spirits with love, and _he_ would need all the help he can get.'

Kotori finished her part even as Kyouhei started up the program for her. The program was titled: 'Fall In love: My Little Shido", a title that made Keima twitch a little. This was obviously a homebrew program that was made by Ratatoskr themselves, since Keima had no knowledge of this particular game in question.

Still, a challenge was a challenge, and Keima pushed his glasses up even as Kotori gave him a small smirk.

'Well, **Capturing God**-san. Would you do us the honors, and give us an honest review and narrative of how you work?'

'I refuse.'

'Eh?'

His answer made Kotori drop the confident facade for a moment even as Keima placed his PFP down before demanding silence. It was going to be awkward without his custom made controller and joysticks but the display panel in front of him would have to suffice for now.

'One does not speak when one is in the _ideal_. You should be drawn to it instead...'

Keima repeated one of his mantra before he stretched his fingers, almost like a master pianist in front of a piano. The controls were odd, and the options were limited, just as what he expected of a homebrew game... but the illustrations and BGM were passable at least.

After going through the options as well as the main menu for any hidden spoilers or secrets, Keima dragged away from the screen to look at Kotori and Kyouhei.

The two of them were staring at him, or perhaps studying him as he prepared to begin the play-testing of this 'training' program.

'I'll give a detailed review after I'm done. I have heroines to save.'

With that, Katsuragi Keima did what he did best. He prepared himself to capture the heroines that were waiting for him, there were no other possible out come.

* * *

..

'U-Unreal...'

To think that, Katsuragi Keima would really be able to finish the entire training module within half a day, a record time that was not even matched by the entire panel of experts. Kotori had all but given up asking him to explain his choices, but after a few initial resets, she had actually been quite disappointed to see Keima reset the game, something that the panel of experts did not do. Keima had been spot-on with all his options.

The game itself had a possible of 4 heroines, with a total of 3 different endings for each of them, making there a possible of minimally 12 different possible endings for all the heroines. That is not including the ultra-difficult harem ending, the 8 different bad endings, the 4 'special' rejection scenes and etc etc... The entire homebrew game would actually have a play-time value of around, 60 hours if one were to try have 100% completion of the game.

And Katsuragi Keima had just cleared it within barely a tenth of the time, without anyone guiding him, without even knowing the existence of the game, and the secret endings that were inside, the **Capturing God** had just cleared it in record time.

It was almost scary the way his eyes gobbled up every word, went through as well as paused to appreciate a particular important choice before going on. Kotori would have thought that anyone else would be just pressing the skip button and subsequently judging the choices through trail and error with that speed, but Keima was not reading, he was experiencing it.

That was the standard of the **Capturing God;** just seeing it was enough to make her respect for him grow again.

'That... was most impressive, Katsuragi-san... No, **Capturing God-san. **What do you think about the game itself? Would it be sufficient as a training program?'

Keima was drinking a glass of tea that had been served to him by an equally impressed Kyouhei. For all the activity he had done, his fingers tapping through the display panel like a typewriter, Keima barely broke a sweat. He did however, leave for a break to the washroom in one occasion. But other than that, for the past five and a half hours, he had been gaming non-stop.

'If you wish for the most extensive training module, this would certainly be lacking. However, it does cover the most basic of the archetypes, however... the scenarios themselves are far from the most common in the _real_. Perhaps in the _ideal, _but we should always consider the setting as well as the possibility of such a scenario happening in the _real_.'

Keima rubbed his chin as he gave his own feedback to Kotori.

'In the _real_? Ah.. you mean in real life... Hmph, well, even if that was true... we are dealing with Spirits. They are not natural... in the first place.'

Keima noticed that Kotori winced a little when she admitted that, but the commander continued on after a while, regaining her spunk as she crossed her arms at him.

'Besides, you have no experience in the _real_, **Capturing God-san**, how could you just say that those scenarios are not possible? The setting itself is to blame for some of the scenarios!'

Kotori defended herself, especially about the part where the adopted sister, and 'Shido' got into a long distance relationship with each other.

Just like Keima however, Kotori noticed Keima wincing a little at her accusation but shrugged it off as well.

'… Blaming the setting for the scenario... that is not acceptable. However, since this is a homebrew, and the awkward and unknown nature of the Spirits, I have to concede your point. Still, there are many ways to improve on the general 'routes' that were available, for instance...'

Keima started his review of the training module in earnest while Kotori and Kyouhei listened in equal earnest.

This was a mission that neither of them could afford to lose after all.

* * *

**Author's Notes: The setting is still being prepared, so hang on tight for a chapter or two. The cover is also not the best work I've done, but I'm happy with it  
**


	3. An Unfair Treatment

Commandments of Capturing

**Chapter 2 – An Unfair Treatment**

Original Title: The World Only God Knows / 神のみぞ知るセカイ and Date A Live/デート・ア・ライブ

Original Concept by Tamiki Wakaki & Tachibana Koishi

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: An AU world where 'Date A Live' & 'The World Only God Knows' happens simultaneously.**

* * *

**Author's Notes: I got my beta, if there is any thing that he missed out, do give me a PM or drop a review to point that out.**

**That said, thank you_ Bowpurity_ for the beta-edit. You work too fast!**

* * *

..

'Thank you for your help today, Katsuragi-san.'

Itsuka Kotori bowed to him, formally too as Keima waited patiently in the transporter console of Fraxinus, Kyouhei had remarked to him that the commander had never given anyone praise before, and it was a great honor to be treated with this much respect. Apparently the only other individual that Kotori would accord similar level of respect was to the founder of Ratatoskr, someone that was Kotori's benefactor.

Either way, Keima acknowledged Kotori's praise with grudging respect of his own. It was rare for him to _truly _respect anyone for their abilities, even to his partners, Haqua and Elsi, he had displayed at most a grudging acceptance of the help that they had given him.

Keima holds no one above him, and so it was quite hard for Keima to accept anyone to be his equal, or to be his superior. The last person that he had acknowledged with ability or talent was the **Mai-hime, **Fuse Aoba. She was the only individual who had defeated Keima in all of his attempts to get closer, and he had been forced to admit that Aoba had the potential, and the ability to even surpass him given enough time and dedication.

Itsuka Kotori was on a different level as Keima, Kotori has not _earned_ the right for Keima to respect her. If anything, Keima only accorded the respect to Kotori simply because the situation called for it. To do anything less would be to risk his own life as well as the mission that he was currently in. Even if he disliked it, even if he did not truly accept it, Katsuragi Keima had to coexist, and to keep his head bowed a little to Itsuka Kotori.

That said, Keima was satisfied and had no qualms with Kotori's current management skills as she was at the very least, flexible. She was, however, a very harsh mistress that wanted things to be just perfect.

Keima had categorized Kotori's dedication to her work into two different scenarios, the first scenario was that she was truly very dedicated to her mission of saving the spirits. The other was simple that she wanted things to be perfect for the sake of the person that they were going to train.

Since he was aware of the 'bro-con' aspect of Kotori, which might or might not be flawed, Keima was willing to place a small wager on that person being her brother, Itsuka Shido.

Yes, Haqua and Elsi's efforts had not been in vain, and just by knowing who Itsuka Shido was, would surely be of use for him. Keima knew that Ratatoskr had a lot of information about him, information they might try to abuse or even blackmail him with.

It was unlikely, but when Keima had come across enough scenarios with shady, all powerful conglomerates to trust any of those explicitly. Especially when they operated in the shadows where they could get away with anything so it didn't hurt to be extra careful around them and to have a few cards up his sleeves to use himself.

Still, having a sister training their older brother, even if he was adopted, to be good in 'capturing' other girls did not suit how Kotori was behaving. Keima was more or less sure that Kotori was infatuated with her adopted big brother, adopting a different personality might just be her way to keep the levels of stress that she must have accumulated in her work.

Well, all those hypothesis were fine and all, but, he needed some stronger evidence to see the ending.

'I suppose that it was productive for me as well. The homebrew was interesting, if a little generic. It could end up being one of the more popular games with better packaging and the complete overhaul of the music.'

Keima's harsh words made Kotori smile a little bit more as she flicked one of her twintails back into position.

'We'll work on that part, Katsuragi-san. With your help, I am more confident in our plan to save the spirits. We would contact you when we begin the project in proper. Thank you for your help.'

Kotori nodded to him, as much of it being a dismissal as well as being acknowledgement. It seemed that his part was done for the time being, and Keima nodded in understanding.

'Till then, commander. I trust that you would keep your part of the bargain as well.'

'Of course. Till then, Katsuragi-san.'

With a last nod, Kotori sent Keima away back to the designated drop-down spot before she frowned, and fanned herself impatiently before calling out to another figure that had been helping out for the entire time.

'How's the progress with the updates, Reine? Katsuragi has provided us with valuable input... and he had exceeded every single expectation I have of him so far, it's... a little scary too for him to be able to do that.'

'It's going... well. He is... very demanding. But, he has indeed raised the standards of the training module by his suggestions. A program, that we spent months of consultations... and research to perfect... changed, and improved within half a day.'

The head analyst of Fraxinus, Murasame Reine spoke softly from the shadows as she staggered till she stood behind Kotori. The younger girl nodded in agreement even as the two of them made their way to the bridge of the ship again.

'Honestly, if he wasn't on our side... I would be very worried about him... If not for Shido's abilities, I would have even asked him to take full control of the mission. With our support and his abilities, there is now way that he could fail.'

Kotori gave Reine a smile even as the analyst nodded her head in agreement.

'The success rate... of Katsuragi Keima has been more than 98% in all the tests that we had subjected him to, the 2% that he had failed in were tests conducted after he knew about the random matchup with real females. However... even if he had failed in accurately raising his target's love levels, he had never caused them unease or had dropped the mood of a single target... He is, truly... the **Capturing God** indeed.'

'… We really found the best person in the world to teach him, didn't we? I just hope that Shido will be up for the task.'

Itsuka Kotori gave a small sad smile while leaning back on her commander's chair. It was actually quite a painful thing, all things considered. Kotori was in essence, asking her brother, the person that she liked, to go after other girls. Girls that could possibly. and had the potential to kill him as easily as she could squash a bug.

The situation was not only painful, it was downright outrageous... if not for the faith that she had in her brother. He had been the one who had saved her all those years ago after all.

'He would be... Kotori.'

Reine gave her own take about it to reassure Kotori, and the younger girl smiled happily as she nodded her head in agreement.

'That's right. I have faith in him.

* * *

..

'You can't... be serious.'

Itsuka Shido, age seventeen, the bother of Itsuka Kotori and all around normal high school student stared at his sister in utter shock. It had been a few hours since he had ran headlong into a Spacequake, dealt with several insane sights, large bombshells about her sister's and his own identity, but this took the cake.

He hadn't thought that he would have seen a girl who had apparently appeared at the core of a spacequake, a very attractive girl at that, nor had he expected one of his classmates to appear alongside an entire squadron of girls wearing mech-suits with the intent to kill the previously mentioned girl.

It was all a jumble of confusing scenes, actually scratch that, crazy and insane scenes that he was having difficulty accepting most of it. He actually had tried telling himself that it was a dream, but thanks to the bombshells that were dropped on him by his sister, it was impossible.

I mean, how would anyone else react to finding out that their younger sister was apparently a commander of some high-tech spaceship, had a very different personality from what one was used to, and informed the person that he was part of a top-secret project that might change the whole world.

No one could really take that at face value, and if not for his sister, Itsuka Shido would never have believed all of it.

But seeing that he had experienced all of it first hand, Shido had no choice but to believe most of it. What he couldn't accept was his dearest and cute little sister behaving like that. Yes, she had showed signs that she could be more vicious than necessary at times in her signs of affection, but having a total personality change really was quite a shock.

'No, we are totally serious. If you do wish to save the spirits, if you really believe in the second method that we have came up with, we will do everything to assist you. After all, Ratatoskr was created to support you in that quest, Shido.'

Kotori replied without breaking with a sweat even as Shido's jaw dropped again. The entire organisation was created for him? Or because of him? Why? Was he something special?

'W-What makes me so special?'

Itsuka Shido asked incredulously even as another figure who was present in the scene listened closely as well.

..

Katsuragi Keima, the **Capturing God,** and the chief advisor of this mission had been summoned with barely a few minutes' notice. Apparently the entire schedule had been disrupted when contact has been made with the Spirit earlier than they had expected. Well, that was the problem with the _real_, and why Keima never did like to get involved with it. It had only been barely a week since their last meeting, Keima had spent the time gaming, checking, and verifying reports about Ratatoskr, Spacequakes and even AST. He needed to have as much information as possible, and Haqua had been able to indulge him.

At first, Keima had thought that it was Haqua who was responsible for the amount of reports that had been given to him. It was entirely possible, Haqua was a very diligent, and serious individual when it came to her work. It was her pride of a devil, whatever that was, Keima was willing to compare it to his pride of a gamer, but there was no way that anyone would dedicate himself or herself to that role, right?

Anyway, back to topic, the reason for the huge amount of reports that prevented Keima from gaming as much as he wanted was because the reports were archived in New Hell.

Since Keima had accepted and was officially undertaking a new secondary mission in finding out more about the Spirits, Haqua and Elsi, who were helping him, was given clearance to go through all the records New Hell had about spacequakes and Spirits.

One of the reports, in particular, was of great interest to him, and it was to be the greatest trump card he would ever have against Ratatoskr and Itsuka Shido.

..

'Because Shido has the ability to seal away the powers of the Spirits. Without their powers, they are just ordinary girls. When that happens, AST would have no reason to target them! There are a few conditions to make that happen, but to make it simple. You'll have to get the Spirit to like you, and for her to fall in love with you to do that.'

If Shido was not panicking before, he was definitely now. What was his sister saying? And for that matter, what did she just imply? That he was someone special? That was just... impossible!

'W-Wait, are you being serious here? That to save them, I've got to...'

'Date them? That's right, Onii-chan. You're going to have your work cut out for you~~ But the onii-chan that I know, won't give up like that, would he?'

Itsuka Shido listened to the taunting of her sister, but it seemed like it was coming from a muted video as he was reflecting upon what he had seen earlier. The sight of that beautiful girl, his long, raven-black hair swirling behind her as she wielded her sword. The dazzling purple armour that made her perfect figure look even more beautiful. But the most important part, the part that he disliked and was drawn to the most.

The look of utter despair in her eyes, the tiredness and resignation in them drew him to her like a moth to a light. Shido wanted to help her, and he wanted to do everything he could to make that look disappear.

'A-Alright... what do I have to do?'

Even as Shido agreed, there were two individuals who nodded in satisfaction at his words. One was his sister, Itsuka Kotori. The other one was Katsuragi Keima, the **Capturing God**, as he saw something that he did not expect to see in that typical harem lead. He was, no doubt about it, a **protagonist**. Now for him to find his _heroine_.

* * *

..

'This is Katsuragi Keima-san, Shido, he's the chief instructor of Fraxinus. Katsuragi-san, this is my worthless brother, Itsuka Shido.'

Kotori gave Keima a respectful nod even while ignoring her brother. Keima of course took it in his stride, continuing playing his games even as he nodded to Shido as well. It seems that Kotori's words didn't make Shido any happier, or even less suspicious till Keima haughtily told Shido to refer him as **God**.

'E-Excuse me?'

'I'm sure you heard me the first time, you can call me **God. **I am the **Capturing God**, and I am tasked with teaching you as much as you can learn about **capturing**. However, knowledge is simply knowledge. Knowing how to apply it is your task. Shall we begin the lessons then?'

Keima declared without letting Shido continue even as he continued on playing, and it took Shido a full minute to get his bearing rights as Kotori had walked back to her commander seat. Shido stared at Keima, before turning back to Kotori in shock. The same action was repeated several times till Shido shook his head to clear it.

'What? Is something wrong, Shido? Did you not hear Katsuragi-san, or did you get dumber by the second?'

Shido bit back his anger and frustration at hearing his sister treat this haughty, and stuck up bastard with respect while giving him so little before turning to look at Katsuragi Keima again.

'Katsuragi-san...?'

'You may call me **God**.'

Keima repeated himself, sternly this time and it was as much as Shido could take till Kotori had enough. Snapping her fingers, she started up the training module even as Shido jumped up in shock.

'Fall In Love: My Little Shido MK 2?'

Shido did feel a little relieved when Keima gave a long suffering sigh as well, but that relief gave way to shock again when Keima remarked that they still hadn't fixed the music yet.

'Ah... due to the abrupt change in schedule... we hadn't had the time to implement it yet.'

Murasame Reine spoke up as she staggered into view again, and her explanation appeased Keima as he sighed before shaking his head.

'No matter. Are you ready to begin, Itsuka-san. The **God** will begin your training in earnest.'

Shido decided immediately then, even if Keima was on his side, he really didn't like him.

* * *

..

'That would be all for today...'

With Keima's words, Shido slumped down on his chair in relief. The two of them, Kotori and Reine-san excluded, had been going through the training module together.

Shido had to hand it to him, the **God**, of whatever, knew his stuff. He had started his lecture by going through the most important of basics. The _commandants_ he had claimed them to be, and for the most part, he was right. He had to keep those rules in mind when going through the training module, and they did help him somewhat.

It was Shido's first galge, or dating sim. He had known about them, who in Japan hadn't heard about them, but he had not expected so much detail, and information in a dating sim. To succeed, according to Keima, he would need to be aware of the overall setting, the setting of the heroine that he was chasing, as well as to remember the objective of the entire process all the time.

Those were a few of the _commandments_ that Keima had him memorize, and for the most part, his tips and pointers had helped him narrow down a few of the heroines' route that had appeared on the title screen. He might be rude and stuck up, but he definitely knew his stuff.

'We would continue this tomorrow. Itsuka-san... remember the commandments, they would serve you well even in the _real_.'

Keima remarked softly even as he continued with his games, Shido hadn't been sure that Keima would even try to be an instructor, but he had been able to keep track of his progress to give him small lectures when he reached some 'event's or 'scenes' in the training module even while gaming.

'Good work, both of you.'

'… What is his training schedule like, commander? His current progress rate is better than I expected, however, it would still require quite a significant amount of time till he passes through the module. I would recommend him going through the module by himself till our next session together.'

Keima asked even as he left his seat, his eyes leaving the PFP to exchange looks with the two of them briefly.

'He has until the next time thePrincess appears.'

'Which might be any time... As the chief instructor, I must remind you that I will not provide advice or my input during the actual mission. The _heroines_, deserve better than that.'

Keima answered firmly while Kotori sighed, and asked him to reconsider his decision once again.

'Shido's progress is, like you said, better than expected. But even if we escalate the schedule, it would be impossible to expect the Princess to wait for us, we should be prepared for the worse. Could you please consider? With your assistance, I am sure that even someone like Shido could succeed.'

'I must respectfully decline. It is not befitting of me to interfere with his work and mission. He is, like you said before, Kotori-san, someone special, and important in this sequence of affairs. If I were to intervene, there would no doubt be repercussions. Unless necessary, I would not wish to interfere as I have no place in all of this.'

..

Keima's reply made both Shido and Kotori draw breaths, however they did so for totally different reasons.

Kotori did so as she did not expect Keima to be so adamant, as well as to be so knowledgeable about the current situation. What he said was definitely true, there was probably no way anyone could replace Shido as his abilities were absolutely crucial, and unique to the mission that they were going to undertake.

What unnerved her so much was how Keima seemed to know everything once again, perhaps it was just his eccentric nature, or perhaps how their entire life had already been turned upside down into one that bordered on fiction. Kotori knew that by admitting that, she would never go back to her ordinary life. But Keima was already, apparently at least, living in a different world from the way he delivered those lines without any hesitation, and was shockingly _very_ confident about his words.

Now, there was an individual who lived for the _ideal_. It was a good idea to swallow her pride when dealing with him, with anyone else it would not have been necessary. But for someone like Keima, who was obviously very very proud, and who had the ability to back himself up, Kotori had no choice but to accord him with at least some respect.

But back to the topic, Kotori wasn't sure if Keima was truly calling her bluff... but she knew at least that she would have to be more careful in the future. Kotori somehow knew that she must never involve Keima in any further affairs of Ratatoskr, it was a sentiment that was shared by her trusted friend, Reine, and the others who were working behind the scenes.

Katsuragi Keima was too sharp, had too many mysteries, and frankly that frightened them. It could be the uneasy feeling that they were been watched when he was around that contributed to it. For an organisation whose main job was to lie and wait in the shadows to support Shido to capture the spirits, this was like being outplayed in their own game.

Perhaps, like how Reine had suggested at the start, Kotori was really over-thinking it.

..

Shido on the other hand, was going on another tangent altogether. Keima had been anything but cordial to him, and that was the least of his worries. The most important thing was that, Keima was a very harsh but fair teacher to him. He had been quick to point out mistakes that he didn't even realize he had made while going through the training module.

Shido had to admit this, even if he had been unable to find an alternative way to save the girl that he had met earlier today. Shido was still very sceptical about this method that Kotori suggested, as well as the training module, and most importantly, about Katsuragi Keima.

Perhaps it was part of his own uneasiness in seeing his sister, who was treating him like crap, actually respect him. Shido was both willing, and happy to admit that it was his own brotherly instinct that made him want to throttle him to warn him off his sister.

Unfortunately he was not going to get that chance, and Shido had been forced to go through the lessons with him.

But in the end, Shido was forced to admit that Keima knew his stuff. His words might not appear to make sense, and it was very jarring to hear Keima preach to him in full confidence of himself. In the end, Keima's words did make sense fundamentally, and even if they were unorthodox, they did work well in the training modules themselves.

Whether those _commandants_ really worked in real life remains to be seen, but at least he was a very good instructor.

Shido didn't have confidence before, but after Keima's words, he began to feel a little more confident about himself. Hearing someone go such a roundabout way to praise him did feel good, especially when it came from someone who had criticized him for the better half of the afternoon non-stop.

..

'Katsuragi-san, I thank you for your confidence in me.'

Shido scratched his head even as he tried to meet him in his eyes, like Kotori, he too felt the presence of the **God** very strongly indeed. He couldn't quite shake off the feeling that someone was watching him at all times.

'… I did not say that... but yes, you could say that I have confidence in you. Although I am unable to see the ending so far, I am certain that everything would resolve, and end with you.'

Keima stated calmly before bowing, and taking his leave. For the brief moment where the two boys had eye contact, Shido swore that he saw Keima give him a small smile before breaking that eye contact.

'Ah... I will, escort you... Katsuragi-san.'

If Kotori or Shido heard the sound of Reine's footsteps following Keima out of the door, and leaving the two of them alone, they didn't say anything. With only the two of them left behind in the bridge, Shido inhaled slowly before turning to look at his sister again. His cute younger sister, who he had been so panicked about that he had ran straight into a spacequake for her sake.

Her younger sister, who had earlier on had trodden on his pride, and dignity till there was nothing left of it. Her sister, who right now had turned around to look at him with the same expectant look as before.

It was still there, Shido had known her sister for so many years now, and even if her sister had dual personalities, Shido knew that Kotori still looked up to him. At least, he hoped so.

'I'll do my best, Kotori. Could you load the training module into my computer too?'

Shido gave his sister a smile, which caused her to blush while crossing her hands in embarrassment. Even if Shido was as dense as a rock before, and even if he had never been good, or had been interested in learning the reactions of the opposite sex to woo them, with Keima's _commandments_ as well as the training module, he had become a little better at it.

It helped that he knew Kotori loved him as much as he did too, and Shido took the opportunity to pet her head like how he usually does.

Only this time, it was a little too straightforward as Kotori launched her own devastating counter to Shido's own action. Kotori had managed to plant a beautiful flying kick into Shido's mid-section in response to his disrespectful act to the commander, Kotori's alternate personality onboard her _own_ ship.

Even if Itsuka Shido had made some progress, there was still quite a way to go indeed.

* * *

**Author's Notes: An earlier update for all of you~ R&R please, or just to show your support, drop a review or two.  
**


	4. Setting the Setting

Commandments of Capturing

**Chapter 4**** – ****Setting the setting**

Original Title: The World Only God Knows / 神のみぞ知るセカイ and Date A Live/デート・ア・ライブ

..

Original Concept by Tamiki Wakaki & Tachibana Koishi

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: An AU world where 'Date A Live' & 'The World Only God Knows' happens simultaneously.**

* * *

**Author's Notes: Well, here we go. Thank you, ****_bowpurity_**** for the beta.**

* * *

..

'So this is the situation, Katsuragi.'

Keima's homeroom teacher, Nikaido Yuri, looked at him patiently in the staffroom. He had been requested to report to the staffroom after role call. It wasn't like he had not expected Ratatoskr to act as quickly as they did, but it did come as a shock to Elsi in having her Kami-Onii-sama be asked to report to the staffroom.

There had been some comments on how it is finally time for him to face the music for breaking the school rules, and some that were happy that he was being punished, but Keima took it in stride.

After all, he could already see the ending of this little meeting.

'Raizen High School had specifically named you for a short student exchange program with them. Now, I have absolutely no idea why they would want to name _you_ as the one that would wish to have in their school, but that's not for me to find out.'

Keima had briefly read the letter that Nikaido had thrown to him, it was filled with jargon from head to toe. But in essence, they needed his knowledge and help, to develop a training module for their school. Since the training module was to be developed as part of their curriculum and they might need his assistance after school hours, they had requested this student exchange program.

Keima was, a little impressed by the way Ratatoskr had blended in the both truth and lies to create a plausible scenario. Guess money was the one thing that made the _ideal_ work. He did not fail to notice that he and the school, would benefit from the development of the training module.

Sure, they had left out details of what the 'training module' was going to be like, but at this point, those were just details! What made Keima feel satisfied about the whole arrangement was also how they wished him to be exempted from the school's semester exam due to his contribution. It's not that he needed to listen to class anyway. Even if he might need to do some revision for the final year examinations, being able to focus on his games, ahem, on the mission itself was a good thing as well.

'So, you'll be transferring to Raizen High, effective tomorrow. We'll inform your parents too, and to make it easier for you, they would be providing transport to and from the school as well. You'll sure be living it up there, in that classy high school of theirs.'

Nikaido Yuri gave Keima a nod even as Keima continued to play his games, Nikaido Yuri was his homeroom teacher, but ordinarily she'll never pay so much attention on him. In fact, Keima would have expected her to just pass him the letter, have him read it and told him to scram. It was unlike her to pay so much attention to him at all.

Something was afoot.

'Be careful there, Katsuragi.'

Nikaido Yuri's words made him look up from his PFP as Nikaido stared at him, her eyes meeting his as she crossed her arms.

'No matter what you'll be doing that, you mustn't forget about your sister. That and, whatever mess you got yourself into this time. The people being Raizen High school, isn't people you'll want them upset at you, Katsuragi.'

Keima's eyes narrowed this time, was Nikaido Yuri warning him about something? Or was she just concerned about his behavior at the school. He admitted that he was, more eccentric than most. And that he's always flouting school rules, but he was the top student after all.

'Top student or not, your behavior will get you into trouble one day, Katsuragi. Now scram.'

Just as Keima went through those thoughts by himself, Nikaido Yuri dismissed him just as quickly as she had summoned him. Perhaps he was overthinking things after all, or perhaps he wasn't... he, the **Capturing God**, wasn't so sure about that.

* * *

..

'Eh, so you'll be transferring tomorrow, Katsuragi. Elsi would miss her big brother, wouldn't she?'

Takahara Ayumi, one of the girls that he had chased the Weiss inside her heart out, blurted in concern during lunch time. Due to the shock announcement during the first period, the news of the _otamegane_ being part of a transfer program spread like wild fire. Ayumi would normally have nothing to do with him, but since she was Elsi's friend and bandmates in the Light Music Club, she had wanted to know what was going on with Elsi's big brother. At least, that was what Ayumi wanted it to look like.

'Ehe~ So it's not Ayumi will be missing him?'

'N-No of course not! Why would I!'

Kosaka Chihiro, another of Elsi's friend, teased Ayumi even as she too gathered around Keima's desk. Elsi on the other hand, had came to grips with the situation, and had wished him well with his mission ahead. He had contacted Haqua too, and the other demon would be on hand, and with him from tomorrow onwards.

'It's an exchange program, and I'll be back in probably a month.'

Keima answered patiently to the two of them as he knew that if he didn't, they'll keep pestering him anyway. It was unheard of for the girls that he had helped to still be friendly to him, but Chihiro and Ayumi were the ones that remained at least on neutral grounds and relations with him, which was still an oddity than the other girls, who didn't even remember him.

'Ohhh... Well, cheer up Elsi, your big brother will be back next month then.'

Chihiro pet Elsi on the shoulder even as the another member of the 2B Pencils, the light music club in Mai High, asked out loud.

'But only Katsuragi was chosen, that's kind of odd, don't you think? What would you be doing there, Katsuragi?'

Terada Miyako, the one girl amongst all of them that was truly 'normal', she had no relation to Keima, and was only in this small circle as she was Ayumi's track-mate and part of the band.

'They needed my help with something.'

Faced with the curiosity of three high school girls, two of which had became quite adept in annoying him, Keima surrendered that information. Failure to do so would mean having his PFP being snatched away from him and it was much easier, like he said, to just relay with what they wanted. Especially since Itsuka Kotori had started exchanging mails with him, mostly for the training module that they were revising a little.

'Eh! I guess it's about the games, or whatever... But Raizen High School, isn't that near where all the spacequakes have been happening recently? You have to be careful, Katsuragi! Who knows when the next one will strike.'

'That's right! The last one happened just yesterday, it was near the school too. Thank goodness our area hasn't been hit with one before.'

Ayumi chipped in while looking worried. Chihiro, who had started the conversation, noticed Elsi tugging her sleeve, tried to reassure her that Keima would be fine.

'There are plenty of warning for spacequakes nowadays, so you shouldn't worry about it! Oi, Katsuragi, when an alert comes, you have to report to the shelter, got it? Your life is more important than the games of yours.'

Chihiro reminded Keima, and was gratified to see him nod his head in acknowledgement. Sadly, Keima knew that was the last thing that he would do if one happened during school.

Like what he had said before, it seems that things would only get harder by the moment.

* * *

..

'Eh, Katsuragi-san would be transferring to my class?'

Itsuka Shido gave a small exclamation during lunch break together with her sister. He had been summoned to the office of Murasame Reine to continue his lessons, but to know that his tutor, Katsuragi Keima was going to transfer to his class tomorrow was a shock.

As mentioned before, he knew instinctively that he disliked him, even if he did respect him. Having him around, especially since he was so weird, would only make things odder.

Especially so when thanks to what he taught him, his practise target, Tobiichi Origami, had apparently agreed to go out with him. Keima had drilled it into him that such lines should not be said with such flippancy, but the 'practice' had ended up being too real for comfort. If Keima found out about that, well, Shido didn't know how he'll react. That by itself was as stressful as being nagged by his split-personality sister.

'You heard me the first time, anyway, Katsuragi wouldn't be able to make it for today's session. So you'll have to work on it yourself, baka Shido.'

'Hai Hai... but... Tobiichi she...'

'Eh? What about her? She's the AST member and classmate that you saw, right?'

Shido scratched his head before looking at his sister again. Kotori was currently displayed on the screen in Reine's office, that meant the she was currently inside the Fraxinius. Either way, he just had to know.

'Tobiichi, she said that she knew me from a while back. But I don't, you know, remember when I saw her, or met her before.'

'Haaah? She could just be pulling your leg, Shido. That woman is definitely a stalker, admitting that she sniffed your PE shirt. What a pervert.'

Kotori sniffed unhappily, and even if it was reassuring to see her get angry on his behalf, Shido had his doubts.

'… Would you, I mean, could you help me check? I mean, Katsuragi-san told me to never look at things in face value. If it's Tobiichi, she might be saying the truth.'

'…'

Shido's words made Kotori pause, but after a while, she gave Shido a small smirk as she nodded in acknowledgement.

'Ah, whatever. I guess the training did pay off. You're really going out with her now, aren't you? Mind you, that stalker woman would really think that you two are going out. I'll do what I can, but you better clear up that understanding with Origami as soon as possible, got that?'

Shido gave a sigh as he leaned back on the chair that he was sitting on, this was definitely not the high school life that he was dreaming of this year.

No, definitely not.

* * *

..

'Ehh... Keima-kun is to take part in an exchange program?'

Katsuragi Mari gave a small cry of surprise at receiving the letter from Keima. All things considered, she was taking it quite well actually as she simply frowned while reading the letter.

Going on an exchange program by itself wasn't that big of a deal, but it was still subject to the parents, and guardians approval. From the look of things, Mari was leaning towards more of approval than not. But things could change.

'Wow, did that high school really specify you to help them? Keima-kun, did you help them before? Or did you work for someone... the only things I know you're good at is in your games.'

Mari asked patiently even as she put the letter down to resume her work, Keima had hurried home today, leaving Elsi with her friends as he wanted to get this over, and done with. Despite this being his own plan, scratch that, it was precisely because it was his own plan that it was a little hard to stomach that he was still subjected to approval from the _real_. Still, Keima was confident that he could persuade Mari in the end anyway.

'Yes, I did help out in a project a couple of weeks back. It seems that they were impressed with my input.'

Keima offered the truth to Mari, and it did seem to work as his mother looked very much conflicted.

'On one hand, it's a good opportunity for you to make some new friends...'

Mari muttered to herself as she worked, possibly more to herself than to Keima. Make new friends? That's rich, he didn't have any friends to begin with.

'But on the other hand, they didn't say how long the transfer program would be, right? I wouldn't want Keima-kun to keep working on it, it might affect your studies.'

Mari's concern was understandable. Besides the detail of them needing Keima's help for that specific project, there really wasn't any further details given to her.

'I'll bring this up to Raizen High school tomorrow then, I'll have them contact you to clear the misunderstandings. After that, you can make the final decision.'

Keima's calm concession made Mari smile as she nodded her head in agreement.

'Yes, it'll be nice if you can do that. Thank you Keima-kun. Oh... and this is the first time that Keima actually really wanted to do something. I'm glad, to see Keima-kun growing up... you do your best, alright?'

Mari pumped a hand up to encourage him, even as Keima raised an eyebrow while asking whether she minded.

'Minded? What would I mind about this, Keima-kun?'

'That I'm probably helping them with a project that is related to_this._'

Keima raised his PFP to emphasis, and even if he knew that it was extremely uncharacteristic of him to be so vocal about the _ideal_, he felt it was warrant a question anyway. Mari had never really objected to him, at least to him directly, that she disliked his life-style. She hadn't been supportive, but had never told him to stop. That was one thing Keima had always been quite happy about, even if he had taken it for granted nowadays.

'No, I don't mind.'

'…'

Keima's silence must have made Mari feel a little uneasy as she continued while walking towards her son. As she ran a hand across Keima's cheek, a gesture that made Keima turn his head away, Mari reached out to give him a small hug as well. Might as well take advantage of it, since Keima wasn't ignoring her for once.

'If that is what Keima-kun decided to do, I'll support you. That's what I decided a long time ago.'

If it's an ordinary capture, Keima would have followed up by asking why. However, as this wasn't one. And as Mari was his _mother_, Keima refrained from doing so. The _real_ however, had other plans, and Mari pouted by asking him why he didn't _ask_ her why she decided on that.

'I won't, because I know it's a secret.'

Keima answered smoothly, leaving Mari speechless for a second before he was promptly whacked on his shoulder by Mari.

'Aww geez, how could you say that to your mother! Keima-kun really has gotten genes from _him_. It'll only be a matter of time till Keima-kun has a girl after him~'

Mari seemed very pleased for some reason, and Keima didn't have the heart to tell her that it had already happened. More than once too.

* * *

..

'So, Kami-Onii-sama. The real mission starts tomorrow? Please, take care.'

Elsi nodded her head in understanding as she started on the dishes. With Mari entertaining Haqua outside, the two siblings were supposed to be wash the dishes. Even if Elsi was the only one doing that, she didn't mind as it was part of her role as the younger sister.

'Yes, Haqua would be keeping an eye on me in the meantime. However, that doesn't mean that you have nothing to do, Elsi.'

Keima reminded Elsi, who nodded, and said that she would continue to do research on the Spirits, and their possible link with the Weiss. Keima had serious doubts that Elsi would unearth everything, but there was another important task for Elsi as well.

'Continue to keep contact with New Hell regarding the primary mission, Elsi. Even if I'm officially placed on leave, it doesn't mean that your job of chasing after the Weiss would stop, yes?'

It was not that Keima liked his job, or was happy about it. But the fact was that even if he disliked it, he had the nagging feeling that whatever he had completed so far was just the tip of the iceberg.

Not literally though, Keima was aware that there were still thousands of Weiss that were not captured, a fact that made him still more than a little upset now. But it was that he felt that there was something going on, something... big, that was brewing about in Maijima High after the last capture of Kasuga Hinoki's Weiss.

It might just be his imagination, but it was indeed true that at many points in time, the 'captured' girls themselves were approaching him of his own accord.

'I understand, Kami-Onii-sama. But Chief has already sent other members of the Weiss Capturing Squad to help me out~ There are many of them, some of them are from Haqua's class! They are really very friendly!'

'And you are fine with that, Elsi?'

Keima realized that this was the second time that he had asked the same question, he supposed that it was due to his own inherent discomfort at going to enemy territory. It was an illogical fear, but Keima was also _human_ despite being **god**. He was still, to his dismay, affected by normal emotions like unease for one.

'Mm?'

'You are fine with them, just taking over the school like that?'

'Ahaha, Kami-Onii-sama, you are funny today. Don't worry, Kami-Onii-sama, they are not taking over my duties in the school. They are just helping to find the Weiss outside of school. I would continue with helping girls who have Weiss inside the school. I know Kami-Onii-sama is worried about Kanon-chan, Ayumi-chan, and the rest, but don't be! I'll still be helping them.'

Elsi gave Keima a mock salute even as Keima relaxed a little, so even Elsi could get a little territorial at times. It was also good to know that Elsi remembered his concerns, and was doing what he could to help in that regard.

'Good, It seems that you have taken my words to heart. Do what you can, Elsi, and do not hesitate to call us for help.'

Keima gave Elsi a small, and brief smile that made Elsi turn a little red. Keima's concern was a rare thing, and Elsi nodded her head while saying that she'll do what he said.

'Kami-Onii-sama. You, be careful too. I know Haqua is with you, but I worry too. The... spirits are dangerous, and Kami-Onii-sama... '

Elsi's voice was different from what she was usually like, optimistic, and happy. She sounded dull, and upset. Keima knew why when Elsi fingered the choker around her neck. Could his conversation with her had such a deep impact on her after all?

'Kami-Onii-sama. I told Kami-Onii-sama a long time ago, that I wouldn't mind dying together with Kami-Onii-sama. That's because, we were partners, we were buddies! I didn't want anything bad to happen to Kami-Onii-sama... but if it was my fault that Kami-Onii-sama died... then I would die along with Kami-Onii-sama. That, was what I thought...'

Elsi stopped washing the dishes, and she turned to look at Keima fully. Her hands, filled with soap, dripped water down her legs even as she bit her lip nervously.

'When I knew about the mission, and then Kami-Onii-sama asked me the same question... I became sad, because I thought that I was a coward. That I, didn't want to die because of Kami-Onii-sama. I... I was sad, because it wasn't what a little sister should feel... and it was not, what I wanted to feel towards Kami-Onii-sama...'

Elsi fell silent after that, and she started when Keima followed up her confession with a soft, but resolute: 'But...?' There was always a 'but' or an 'and' to follow up with this conversation, it was a _law_.

'But then, I... just didn't want to... not be there for Kami-Onii-sama. I didn't want Kami-Onii-sama to be exposed to danger without me. Even if, even if... I can't do much. I... do not want Kami-Onii-sama to meet... and to 'captured' the Spirits without me. But, I know that Haqua, she would take good care of Kami-Onii-sama, perhaps better than I could.'

Elsi stopped again, this time out of surprise when Haqua knocked on the kitchen door to interrupt her.

'Ah, Haqua!'

'G-Gomen, Elsi... I just wanted to get some water... but...'

'Go on, Elsi.'

Keima's words made the two girls jump, and even if it did make the entire scene a little tenser, Elsi mustered her courage to continue on.

'Haqua, I know that you would take good care of Kami-Onii-sama... but Kami-Onii-sama, I'll do my best here too. So that you don't worry... and that you can concentrate on the other mission. But, but... Kami-Onii-sama. If there is something I can do, a-anything at all!... Please, call me. I... I'll do anything! I'm... I'm your buddy! So... So, please...'

Elsi was doing her best to hold it in, and she succeeded as Keima nodded his head in acknowledgement of Elsi's confession. Like what he had expected, Elsi was getting a little more territorial, and comfortable with her position with him. It was good for her to get it out before things really changed. It wasn't just her who was affected by the sudden abrupt change in setting as well as home-ground after all. Keima himself had felt that in the afternoon as well.

'Haqua, Kami-Onii-sama would be in your care.'

Even as Keima went through those thoughts by himself, Haqua smiled as she hugged Elsi. Elsi's attempt to be brave about the situation failed as she started crying while gripping on to Haqua tightly.

'R-Right, I'll do my best.'

Haqua squeaked out as she snuck a glance at Keima from the sides, she wasn't too sure what Keima was convening when he nodded his head at her.

Was it acknowledgement, or was it acceptance? Either way, Haqua felt a little more stressed as well as hopeful after that little encounter.

* * *

..

'Good Morning, Katsuragi.'

Keima stared at the 'transport' that was provided by Raizen High School evenly. Basically it was a four seater that was being driven by Murasame Reine, apparently the assistant home-room teacher of the class that he was going to be placed into. As per the norm, Keima was still gaming on his PFP. What wasn't normal was how Mari and Elsi had woken up early to see him off. As Raizen High School was in a totally different district, it would take some time to travel there.

Keima seriously doubted that, with the Fraxinius and all, but as it was to keep up pretences, Keima could think of worse ways.

Reine however, actually looked more energetic in the wee mornings of the morning. Bowing to Mari as well as Elsi, Reine introduced herself even as Mari smiled back in concern. Even in the dim light of the barely rising sun, Reine's dark eye shadows were visible to everyone.

'I'm fine. I have extreme insomnia.'

Reine answered without a beat before nodding to Keima, who nodded his head. He would be receiving his new school uniform in school today, and right now he was wearing the Mai-High uniform.

'Murasame-san, Keima-kun would be in your care.'

'Please, take good care of Kami-Onii-sama!'

With Mari and Elsi's sending off, Keima nodded even as he got into the seat beside Reine. His eyes, however, did look up from his PFP to give Mari and Elsi the acknowledgement they needed.

With that over and done with, Katsuragi Keima, the **Capturing God** was off to the latest chapter of his legend.

Onwards, onwards, to Raizen High!

* * *

**Author's Notes: Onwards indeed! R&R if you liked it!**


	5. A Break from the Norm

Commandments of Capturing

**Chapter 5**** – ****A Break from the Norm**

Original Title: The World Only God Knows / 神のみぞ知るセカイ and Date A Live/デート・ア・ライブ

Original Concept by Tamiki Wakaki & Tachibana Koishi

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: An AU world where 'Date A Live' & 'The World Only God Knows' happens simultaneously.**

* * *

**Author's Notes: Thank you ****_bowpurity_**** for the beta! I had fun with this one.**

* * *

..

Itsuka Shido was understandably nervous, he was going out with Tobiichi Origami. That much was a fact. To re-cap on the events of what happened the day before...

* * *

..

_Shido had been asked to practise his skills on the girls in school. It was just pure dumb luck that the first girl that he met was his home room teacher, Okamine Tamae._

_His success with his home-room teacher notwithstanding, who ever knew that Tamae-sensei was so desperately waiting for her true love. At least he had gotten off easy after telling her that it was just a misunderstanding, and done as part of a dare._

_If Tamae-sensei was disappointed, she didn't take it out on him. Instead, she had just made a quick phone call to arrange what appears to be a drinking session the very night. Shido had promptly fled the scene, only to meet with his second target a few moments later._

_That 'practise' target ended up being Tobiichi Origami, the ice-queen classmate that he had saw battling with the Spirit a few days prior. It had only taken a single lesson for Katsuragi's training to show it's effectiveness. He did call Tobiichi an ice-princess just now, didn't he?!_

_That aside, Shido acknowledged that even if he was sceptical of what he had learnt, Keima had been very successful in detailing him the 'science' of capturing. That alone made him much more comfortable with dealing with girls, especially since he was now aware that most times, the girls themselves would get just as nervous as the guys would when being hit on._

_There were of course, exceptions, but the basic rules of the 'capturing' process was the same. The first impression always counts, and if that didn't work, all was not lost as long as one makes an impression._

_The sad thing about what Keima taught him was that Shido felt that Keima was being too, how could he put it, too technical with it._

_This was very apparent when Shido doubted Keima's grasp of reality at certain points._

_The bottom line was however, he did not like Katsuragi Kema. Not because of his ways or his behavior or even his mannerism, it's because he felt that fundamentally, the two of them viewed others differently._

_Shido felt that he would treat girls differently than Keima, even if he might be using Keima's advise and methods to make them fall in love with him. Does that make him a hypocrite?_

_Anyway, back to the main topic._

_Shido had just bumped into Tobiichi by accident as he turned the corridor, and after being egged on to use her as practise, Shido was going to use that incident to get closer to Tobiichi._

..

_'Are you alright? I'm sorry for bumping to you like that.'_

_Shido took a few steps closer to Tobiichi, who had recovered but was still sitting on the floor. Even as she dusted her skirt off, Shido noticed the small coloration of her cheeks that signalled that she was blushing despite her cool demeanour. It was always important to take note of smaller details, nothing was ever at front value after all. Keima had told Shido that facial expressions were the most obvious, and yet the hardest to spot in the best of times._

_Thanks to Tobiichi's pale skin,Shido was able to spot the very subtle change in coloration at the side of her eyes. It wasn't there till Shido bumped into her, that's for sure. What made things a little complicated was not whether she was embarrassed, that was definitely the case. The complication came from whether she was embarrassed due to her mistake, due to his actions or due to his close proximity to him. If it was the first , that probably means that Tobiichi did not view him favourably in any light._

_If it was the second or third option, that was probably the precursor to an event._

_Gods, he did it again, he was referring to things by 'events' now!_

_'Here.'_

_Shido offered Tobiichi a hand to help her up, the mark of a gentleman, or at least, that was what Keima claimed. Keima also made sure to emphasis that Shido should never apply any sort of pressure than what was necessary. However, if the girl did grip his hand, especially a little bit more than necessary, or if it was hard to get her to let go of his hand, there was no doubt that the girl was interested in him._

_Or she was just very tired, things were very subjective at some stages. So it really depended on the person in question to read the subtle cues._

_In this case, Tobiichi did not hesitate in taking Shido's hands, she even gripped his hand a little tighter as he helped her up. Shido also realized that Tobiichi was probably capable of getting up herself easily, but she went limper for some reason. That made things even more complicated, for Shido had to use his other hand to help her up by gently supporting her by the waist._

_So, in the end, he had her in her arms. One could argue that it was all according to plan, to bring the two of them in closer contact._

..

_Thankfully or unfortunately for Shido, Keima had given the members of Fraxinus his own lecture as well. One of the key things that he taught them was that: '__**There was no such thing as a free lunch**__'._

_If there was a heroine who was actively chasing you, it would be dangerous as there was a catch. There always would be a catch if the _ideal _offers a heroine who was doing the opposite of what they were supposed to do. Heroines, were to be saved after all. It just meant that to save them would require something different than the usual 'love' that was being offered. _

_If there was a heroine that was receptive and was encouraging the protagonist, it was also dangerous with another catch involved. In this case, it could be that they were near a particular steamy scene, or it could be the same as the above. Since Shido wasn't totally sure that he had maxed out Tobiichi's love points, the crew of the Fraxinus was leaning towards the 'dangerous' option._

_However, Kotori was unsure of their judgement. Under the request of Keima, who had wanted all the information of AST to be made available to him, she had unearthed that Tobiichi Origami was paying very close attention to Shido. She would even go as far to say that Tobiichi was stalking Shido. She of course, had decided to withhold that information from everyone else besides Reine. This seemed to have backfired as the crew recommended Shido to back away now._

_However, since she was the commander, she vetoed the decision by the crew by telling them to wait._

..

_'Thank you.'_

_Due to the mixed signals that Shido was getting from Tobiichi, that and his own unease, and embarrassment from holding a girl int hat position, Shido was not able to properly process his thoughts till it was over. Tobiichi was standing again, and the two of them were looking at each other awkwardly. Well, perhaps only Shido was looking at her awkwardly. Tobiichi had the same expression on her face at all times, the only time it changed was when she engaged with the Spirit that time he saw them at the vicinity of the Spacequake._

_Either way, Shido had time to marvel at how Tobiichi really looked like a porcelain doll with her flawless skin, neatly trimmed and maintained hair. All that coupled with the expressionless she normally had, Shido acknowledged not for the first time that she was a very beautiful girl. Now if only she stopped giving that emotionless expression that Katsuragi Keima gave all the time, all would be great._

_'No, it's my fault... Tobiichi. Sorry, I froze when I saw you.'_

_Still, a practise mission was a mission, and Shido pulled one of the lines that Keima had taught him. The concept of complimenting others was simply, it was as simple as to place emphasis that his every action was due to the other person. It could be something stupid, silly, or even dangerous, but as long as it was done because of the capturing target, there was a large area of negotiation room as to what one's true intentions were._

_'You did?'_

_Tobiichi asked him curiously, and Shido nodded his head._

_'To be honest, I've known about you for a while now, Tobiichi.'_

_'Same here.'_

_Her answer made Shido hesitate for a small instance, but he powered on either way stubbornly. Especially since he was certain that Tobiichi would not emphasis on what she meant by that._

_'Well, I'm very happy to be in the same class as you. I would like to know you better as well.'_

_'Same here.'_

_It was the exact same response, and Shido paused for a moment even as the crew of Fraxinius told him that he was doing fine._

_'I'll like that, could we walk home together?'_

_'Same he-'_

_Tobiichi actually stopped in mid-sentence, no doubt embarrassed by her own slip up. This made Shido chuckle a little, causing Tobiichi to turn redder than ever even as she looked away. Another thing Keima mentioned was that it was never wrong to actually tease the person that one was capturing, but there was a limit to do that._

_That particular limit, would also serve as a good guide as to the 'archetype' of the heroine. Those with a high level of tolerance would be those individuals who were very comfortable with the the protagonist, or were simply comfortable with guys. These heroines would not get embarrassed that easily, but when they do, it would increase their love points considerable._

_Those with a very moderate level of tolerance of being teased were individuals who were the most 'normal', they were individuals that for all aspects of their archetypes, would react to all stimulants equally, and were also the most plain out of all the heroines._

_That didn't mean that they were easy to capture however, it just meant that all methods were applicable to them, and as a result, they would also be the hardest to read as well._

_Individuals with a very low tolerance level for teasing were in the extreme level of the personality scale. They were either tsunderes, who everyone knew about, or the extremely shy girls. Any teasing would result in either violence, or a huge difference in love points._

_There was however a catch to this theory, and it was actually a very fundamental one._

_This theory was affected by the love points of the heroine. As love points accumulate, and as the heroines get more aware of the protagonist, their behavior towards him would change. That was only natural as they were falling in love with the protagonist. One could offset the difference in responses as one would knew who they were actively 'capturing'. However, if one could not keep track, or was unaware of the prior connection of the heroine, this would terribly skew the results._

..

_With Tobiichi's case, Shido was aware that Tobiichi knew him from a while back. Or at least, recognized him, this made him a little unsure how to place Tobiichi._

_'Shall we go then?'_

_Shido struggled on after Tobiichi gathered herself again. But this time, it was Tobiichi who stopped him by reaching out to grab his hand._

_'Tobiichi?'_

_'Call me Origami.'_

_'Eh?'_

_'Call me Origami. I too, will call you Shido.'_

_First name basis, that was also something that was briefly covered by Keima. It showed a sign of closeness between too individuals, wait, that was the same normally too! Shido was really over-thinking things here._

_'R-Right, if you're comfortable with it...'_

_'Shido.'_

_Origami spoke out softly, and Shido was unnerved to see she was blushing again, especially when she repeated his name again._

_'Shido. Shido. Shido. Shido. Shido. Shido.'_

_Tobiichi continued on the same vein for some time till Shido spoke up._

_'Tobiich-'_

_Shido stopped when Tobiichi turned her head to meet his so fast that he was worried that she might have twisted her neck._

_'Origami.'_

_'A-Ah... right, Origami-san...'_

_'We are classmates. Shido. Call me Origami.'_

_'O-Origami...'_

_Even if he had not been fully aware, or had not believed that Tobiichi was attracted to him before, he believed that now._

* * *

..

In the end, before the two of them had parted ways, Tobiichi Origami had confessed to Shido, and he had been unable to reject her. Even if he had started this conversation with Tobiichi as a 'practise' session, it had ended up in this fashion. The crew of Fraxinius was unable to truly judge whether he did it overly well, or Tobiichi's love points had been very high in the beginning.

What was clear though, was that Shido was now going out with her. And there was no escaping that for Tobiichi had been waiting for him outside of his house. It had started off badly,with Tobiichi declaring to Kotori that she was going to her sister-in-law, and had ended up being worse on the way to school when Tobiichi had asked him if they could hold hands.

Her way of 'asking' was to tug at his hand repeatedly till Shido asked whether they could, indeed, hold hands. The red blush that blossomed on her face was enough to render Shido speechless and unable to tell her that he would rather not hold hands.

It seemed that Tobiichi was a mixture on being a clingy, insecure individual together with the ice-princess archetype. Shido was not totally helpless against Tobiichi and her archetype, but he was unable to reject her. Which practically meant the same thing if he was only able to raise her love points, and not decrease them.

Hence, his dilemma and headache so early in the morning. His friend, Tonomachi Hiroto, had already teased the two of them in the morning, causing everything to get worse when Tobiichi admitted up front that they were lovers. With that, the entire rumor mill went to work without any mercy for him or any way to stop it. Tobiichi probably did that on purpose, and it seemed that there was no way to stop those rumors right now.

..

'What's the long face about, Shido? You should be glad! Tobiichi even said that she made a bento for you. You sly fox you!'

Even if Hiroto had been a little upset at the start, he had started to tease Shido mercilessly even as Shido sighed. It was probably true that he had met with Tobiichi a long time ago and had done something that had made a good impression on him.

At least, that was what Katsuragi Keima had told him after Shido had consulted him after home room.

Yes, just like what Kotori had promised, Katsuragi Keima had transferred into his class, and school today.

Shido also failed to be surprised when Keima introduced himself as **God**, and that he would expect not to be disturbed while gaming throughout the entire day. What he was surprised about was the way that Reine-san agreed with with. It had initially passed off as a joke, but when Keima started gaming with no regards to class or lessons that had been going on, everyone was more or less trying to avoid him as well, even if he was a special transfer student. Perhaps, too special, really.

'By the way, do you know Katsuragi? You two were talking about something just now.'

Hiroto asked curiously while shooting curious looks at Keima, who was right now gaming as well.

'You could say that... I knew him from a while back. he... uh... never changed.'

Shido gave hi friend a weak smile even as Hiroto snorted.

'I'll say... they say that he was also like that in his old school, but he's the top student of his year... he must be crazy smart if he could get away with all this. Kinda like Tobiichi, don't you think?'

'You think so too?'

For all the gossip that was going on, Shido actually agreed with them on this point. The two of them for the lack of a better word, simply above all of them. They were geniuses and they might even understood each other, being quite similar to each other.

'Ohhh, are you getting jealous already? You just went out with Tobiichi-san right? It's natural that you would get a little anxious at the start. I should know, after all, it took me a while to confess to my girlfriend too.'

'That... is not a girlfriend at all...'

Shido retorted with a long suffering sigh. But Hiroto had a point, a good point too. As the two of them were sitting next to each other, Tobiichi and Keima had almost the same facial expression, that was, none. It was also quite unnerving to those around them.

'Well, cheer up, look forward to lunch then!'

* * *

..

'Shido.'

When the bell rang for lunch time, Tobiichi moved immediately as she pushed her table to be beside Shido without any hesitation, before he was able to respond or react as well! This by itself caused a problem as Shido was still troubled over what was going to happen in the future. Was he going to keep seeing her? Or was he simply going to break up with her like that.

Shido's hesitation did not register with Tobiichi or Hiroto, who had popped by just as quickly while teasing Shido.

'Ohh~ Getting lovey dovey so soon during lunch? You lucky bastard, Shido! Did you really prepare lunch for him, Tobiichi?'

With Hiroto adding fuel to the fire, and Tobiichi blushing while nodding her head, Shido knew there was no way out of this and he sighed deeply.

At least, he thought that there was no way out of this when the voice of Murasame Reine echoed out in the classroom.

'Itsuka-san, would you come with us?'

Beside Reine was Keima as well, the **Capturing God** giving him a bored look before going back to his games as well. Even if someone had wanted to ask Keima out for lunch, or to get to know him better, they had failed in that aspect. Who was he kidding, no one had wanted to be near Keima after seeing the way he had simply ignored everyone before and during class.

He was a character alright, a very unique, and distinct one that no one was sure how to deal with.

'R-Right away, sensei!'

But right now Shido was only interested in grabbing the lifeline out of here. As he turned to look at Origami, Shido felt a pang of guilt when she had lowered her head a little at hearing his enthusiasm. Was he that transparent after all?

'I'll be right back, Origami. Please go ahead without me.'

'I will wait.'

Origami's words came out as quickly as she usually did, and Shido managed to give a small sigh before nodding, and running off.

* * *

..

'She will wait till you return, Ituska-san.'

Katsuragi replied non-commitedly as the three of them walked together towards Reine's own office. At first, Shido didn't quite understand what Keima was referring to till he realized that he was talking about Origami.

'Ah? Really?'

As Keima sighed softly, Reine spoke up and said that Shido was both heartless and insensitive towards girls. Keima apparently thought the same as he nodded his head while gaming.

'Remember this, one should never underestimate a girl in love. Especially if the relationship has just started. With the fuel of their love, they would stop at nothing to ensure their love continues.'

Keima recited even as Reine nodded her head, the analyst in full agreement with the **Capturing God** as Shido groaned.

'So she'll wait for me till I return?'

'Yes, especially for a character like Tobiichi Origami. She has obviously been eyeing you for a while, it made things easier for her when the two of you had a 'shared memory' with each other.'

'Oh, do you mean when she said that she had seen me before?'

Keima looked up from his PFP for a moment when Shido said that, apparently he didn't know about that, and subsequently Shido filled him in on his suspicions before waiting a reply.

'A possible meeting during one's childhood, an event that was very significant for her, but not for you... yes, that fulfilled another criteria.'

Keima mused out loud even as Reine invited the two of them into her office, which had been converted into one similar to one on board the Fraxinus.

'With the added event of a possible 'childhood promise' with the 'shared memories' that the two of you had, the odds that Tobiichi Origami had been eyeing you for an even longer time would be natural.'

Keima finished even as Kotori appeared on the screen, sitting on the commander's chair onboard Fraxinus.

Shido's first reaction was to question Kotori's presence onboard the ship, she was supposed to be studying after all.

'I'm in middle-school, and we're on lunch break now. No one notices if a kid or two disappears during lunch to play.'

Kotori glared at Shido before adding on to Keima's pool of knowledge by sharing with them that Tobiichi had probably done some surveillance of her own for Shido.

'To put it bluntly, she had been stalking Shido all this time.'

'Did she do so prior to the 'shared memories' that the two of them had?'

Keima's question made all of them pause before Kotori frowned and snapped her fingers.

'You mean that time Shido saw her in her AST uniform? We didn't check that far back...'

'But could you, commander? It is important. If Tobiichi started her stalking before the event, the main hypothesis of Tobiichi having met Shido earlier is still valid. However, if it only happened after the 'shared memories', we would have to re-classify Tobiichi, she could be re-classified as one who is approaching Shido due to the nature of her job.'

Shido froze while Keima and Kotori discussed Origami so casually, Shido did not fail to notice how the two of them were seemingly ignoring his own outrage or disbelief at them discussing Origami in that fashion.

'W-Wait a minute, Origami isn't like that at all!'

'And from what basis did you come up with that argument, Shido-san.'

Keima answered patiently as he dropped the conversation with Kotori almost immediately. Shido also did not fail to notice that he had been referred in the first name basis, but still politely with the suffix '-san' added behind it.

'W-Well, you're being rude in discussing about Origami and her intentions without concrete proof... Anyway, what gave you the right to describe and categorize all of them like that? Origami isn't like one of the girls in the games, she's a real girl!'

Shido's words made Keima pause for a moment before he lowered his PFP to adjust his glasses. Even as Shido swallowed a little nervously, he did not notice Kotori giving Keima a speculative glance of her own. Keima never paid attention to anything he didn't find to be at least remotely important. It was similar to how Keima would give Kotori his attention when she was discussing with him. She was flattered by that, and so she was confused when Keima paid attention to Shido's words and him in general. Sure, Shido's concern was genuine, but the way Keima immediately turned to confront his words was not like him.

Well, it was like him, but he only did it if it was very important to him, or towards the _ideal_.

Did Shido say something so important?

..

Keima on the other hand, found Shido's statement to be a very deep one. One that he had struggle for a while before deciding on what his real mission was. In a way, Shido's words reminded him of when his first few missions in the Weiss Capturing Squad.

In short, Keima was satisfied and impressed with Shido's words.

'That might be true, however, one must still take into consideration what her motives are, Shido-san. Everything, happens for a reason, if you do not accept that, you are being hopelessly naïve. I am given the right to judge the _heroines_ as I am **God**. For now, let us go through why I made those statements regarding Tobiichi Origami-san.'

Even if Shido continued to bristle at Keima's words and description of Origami, he settled down while Keima pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and cleared his throat to begin.

'Firstly, let us take a look at what we know of Tobiichi Origami-san.'

* * *

**Author's Notes: R&R if you liked it!**


	6. Preparing for the Future

Commandments of Capturing

**Chapter 6**** – ****Preparing for the Future**

Original Title: The World Only God Knows / 神のみぞ知るセカイ and Date A Live/デート・ア・ライブ

Original Concept by Tamiki Wakaki & Tachibana Koishi

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: An AU world where 'Date A Live' & 'The World Only God Knows' happens simultaneously.**

* * *

**Author's Notes: Thank you, ****_bowpurity _****for the beta-edit!**

* * *

..

'First, the background. Tobiichi Origami-san is currently a second year high school student in Raizen High School with the title of the School Genius. She scores the top in school for all her subjects, but despite all that, she is known as the Ice-princess due to how she rarely shows any kind of expression. She is an orphan, her parents having being killed in a fire five years ago. Additionally, she is a member of AST, and holds the rank of Master Sergeant in the AST squadron that she is a part of. That should suffice as the basic background for Tobiichi Origami-san.'

Keima answered softly as he crossed his arms, his eyes focusing on Shido as he started analysing the situation calmly.

'So, what about it?'

Shido was not exactly going against him, but his tone suggested that he was at best, confused. At worst, he was feeling frustrated at Keima. That was fine, as **God, **he had to give the mortals a life line or two if they did not understand his words, and what he was aiming at.

'Right now, Tobiichi Origami-san is going out with you, something that she initiated of her own accord. Or at least, she confessed to you. That by itself, is not unnatural. There are many situations where it is quite common, or expected of the _heroines_ to confess to the _protagonist_. However, that is not the crux of the problem. The crux of the problem would lie in why Tobiichi Origami-san had confessed to you on a short notice. I believe I had covered one of the _commandants_ with you regarding this, Shido-san?'

'Ah, you mean the one where you said: 'T**here is no such thing as a free lunch'**?'

Shido replied while Keima nodded in agreement.

'That is accurate. A confession from a _heroine _would be natural, it would be expected if one had spent time 'capturing' the _heroine_. In this case, having Tobiichi Origami-san confess to you is unnatural as you had barely made any headway in capturing her. Yes, perhaps, you did raise her love points significantly by that short 'event' and 'scene' the two of you had went through. Perhaps it is also true that unlike other heroines, Tobiichi Origami-san have significantly lower requirements that would make her 'capture' complete. Another possibility would be that Tobiichi Origami-san's love points had been extremely high as the two of you had both 'shared memories' as well as a 'childhood promise. All of that is possible.'

Keima's confession made Shido nod his head in agreement, he agreed with Keima's assessment, and was pretty sure it was accurate too. But that was not the point here.

'Even if all that is correct, that doesn't give you the right to make assumptions about Origami, Keima-san.'

'I am getting to that right now, Shido-san.'

Keima took a breath before continuing, this time his eyes were sharp as he stared at Shido.

..

'You questioned me about my rights to pass judgement, as well as to make assumptions about the _heroines_, Shido-san. I am obliged to inform you that I am the chief advisor for the entire plan that you had agreed to. Both of us are aware of the risks of failure, of the beings that we are facing, the danger that is apparent and inherent with the mission and which would be amplified with the unpredictability of the entire plan. By acknowledging and agreeing to be under my tutelage, you are in effect letting me shoulder the responsibility for the safety and success of the mission, and you in general. Tobiichi Origami-san, due to her status as an AST member as well as the fundamental level of being an individual that has been proven to show attraction to you, would and could be factored into the entire plan as one which, if left alone, might cause failure.'

Shido didn't quite follow what Keima was saying, that much was obvious as he continued staring at him in confusion. Reine took pity on him and simply said that Origami might cause the entire mission to fail.

'Origami would? But, why?'

'As she is a _heroine_ that is linked to AST. But more fundamentally, I have to ask you this question, Shido-san.'

On the other end of the screen, the crew members of Fraxinus was listening, and looking on with awe as well as uncertainty. There was no other way to explain it as Keima had been spot on with not only his analysis, but his own justification for his actions as well. What more could he want to ask Shido?

Especially for Kotori, she was feeling extremely uneasy that Keima had taken control of the situation like that, and so easily too. His points were all valid, and they were things that Shido never thought about, but it were things that she had thought about.

'Is Tobiichi Origami your _heroine_?'

'W-What?'

'Is Tobiichi Origami your _heroine?_ It has already been established that she views you as her _protagonist_, for what reason, that is unclear to me. But there is no doubt that if you continue along this route, if you accept her as your _heroine_, you would most certainly ensure failure in the _plan_.'

Keima leaned back on his chair as he watched Shido's reaction go from confusion to realization. That was good, at least he was picking up on his terms.

'Does it really matter at this point, Keima-san? I mean, I don't... want to hurt Origami's feelings.'

'You have to.'

Keima's quick reply made Shido stare, and he wasn't the only one. On board the Fraxinius, the crew members simultaneously gasped as one, even Kotori too, at Keima's blunt words.

'Because the _heroines_ view you as the _protagonist_, only you have the choice. They love you, therefore, they would not make that decision for you. If you truly wish to go on with the plan, to ensure at least a minimal chance of success, you would have to hurt her feelings. However, if you do indeed view her as your _heroine_, please ignore what I said earlier.'

Keima's words were delivered without any shred of emotion, almost as if he was discussing the weather. His tone made Shido flare up a little again, it was amazing to Shido how he could treat the feelings of the girls like they were nothing.

Keima had been the person who had taught him that the girls, like the boys who were pursuing them, had their own problems, their own emotions, and of course fears. But the same person who taught him all this was also dismissing their emotions, thoughts, and wishes just as easily as well.

How paradoxical could he get?! It might be the heat of the moment, but hearing someone casually dismiss a girl's feelings like that made him very angry.

'The hell do you mean by that, Keima! How could you just say that! What about Origami's feelings?'

Keima remained unphased by Shido's outburst, if anything, he only seemed mildly curious as he tilted his head slightly.

'I believed I gave my justifications earlier. Tobiichi Origami is a heroine, and although it is right to consider her feelings. In this case, I am only concerned with _your_ feelings, not hers.'

Keima's words only made Shido angrier as he pointed at him angrily.

'You said that you would save all the heroines, that you would not give anyone of them up. Isn't that what you said to me the first time?'

Shido was not embarrassed to admit that some of Keima's words had been very inspiring, and he had been quite happy to hear that declaration from him. Apparently it was something that all the crew members of Fraxinus agreed with, Keima was a very eloquent speaker, another title for him could also be the _Magician of Words. _

'Yes, I did say that. However, it all depends on whether you are willing to make that decision yourself.'

'That decision?'

'The decision to save all of them. To do that, you would have to break up with Tobiichi Origami. That is the first decision that you would have to make.'

'Wh-Why, would that have to do with anything? Must I do that?'

Keima sighed as he realized that they were going in circles, Itsuka Shido was unwilling to accept that in order to save everyone, he would have to sacrifice someone. Tough, but that was how the world works. Even **God** had to make that decision. He could not save everyone, not, really, everyone.

'That is irrelevant, Shido-san. All of that is irrelevant. My question to you now is, do you wish to save them. The spirits, and all of the possible _heroines_, _protagonist-san_._'_

None of those present, be in in the room or in Fraxinus, truly understood what Keima had seen by himself. He could see the _ending_, it might be hazy, and it might be totally wrong. But there was one constant in the entire process, that was that Itsuka Shidowas the _protagonist._ There was no escaping that fact, the problem was how would he deal with it.

How would he face up with the pressure of this mission? Or perhaps, being invited here and taking an active role has already set loose a chain of reaction that might derail the ending that he had seen.

Katsuragi Keima, the **Capturing God** wasn't totally sure. But he knew that Shido's answer would definitely change the ending that he had seen.

'I wish to save them, Keima.'

Shido finally replied as he had been unnerved by the increase in intensity of Keima's gaze on him. He understood fundamentally that Keima wanted to know what he wanted to accomplish, but he did not quite understand what else Keima was referring to. Potential heroines and protagonist? He knew the latter, it just meant that he was the one that everything hinged on, but the former was confusing. Potential heroines? Did he mean the spirits? But then again, he mentioned Origami as a heroine too? What did he mean by that? Did he mean that there would be more than one? That there was more that he would have to deal with besides the 'Princess' that he had met before?

'So you wish to save them, Shido-san. In that case, you would have to break up with Tobiichi Origami-san. As I mentioned before, only you can make that decision. The _heroines_ would never make that decision by themselves, that is their dedication, their love to you. Their love for you is real, Shido-san. If you truly wish to save all of them, you have to be able to make this decision, to have the determination to break their hearts even before you 'captured' them.'

Keima paused as he removed his glasses, allowing Shido to look into his eyes as he repeated his statement to him.

'Break up with Tobiichi Origami-san, Shido-san. That is the only way that you could realize your wish.'

* * *

..

Keima had left Shido to contemplate his own thoughts, a gesture that was less about being thoughtful, and more about how he knew that Itsuka Kotori, and the members of Fraxinus would wish to speak to him about what he had said earlier.

True to his own prediction, Keima's phone rang, and on the line was Itsuka Kotori.

The only difference was that he now had Kotori's number in his phone book, but that was besides the point.

'What was that about, Katsuragi!'

Keima did not wince, at least outwardly from Kotori's shout, but it was still quite jarring to see Kotori being so mad at him. Well, there were many things to be mad about and he hadn't even gone through why it was dangerous to underestimate Tobiichi Origami. She might be a heroine, but he had no idea how she fit in the grand scheme of things. It is not uncommon for the _ideal_ to make the _protagonist_ choose between two sides. There was of course, the option of a 'true' end where all sides would be satisfied or at least be 'saved' by the protagonist, but more often than not, those endings require a full picture of the situation, or has to be unlocked after several playthroughs. Right now, with the lack of information on his part, Keima could only act on the most fundamentals of the ideal. And one of the fundamentals was that, there could never be a harem end when all of the characters have not been introduced.

'I summarized the possibilities, the risks as well as my recommended action for Shido-san to take, is it wrong of me to do so, commander?'

Keima replied calmly even as he heard Kotori visibly struggle to keep herself calm in light of Keima's own words.

'… You were serious about what you were saying earlier? Not about breaking up with that girl, that was probably for the best, but what about what you said? That Shido would have to be able to break their hearts before capturing them? Was that... for real?'

Kotori's question made Keima applaud internally as she had picked out the most important line to question him on. It was the truth too, if he wished to save everyone... this was the most basic foundation of them all. Especially since there was no way for him to simultaneously capture every of the heroines that might be drawn to him. He would have to save one, only to break one's heart.

That was what Keima had determined a long time ago.

'Yes, that is true. Do you honestly expect anyone to truly capture more than one heroine without any repercussions?'

'Repercussions...'

'It is indeed possible for any me to advise Shido-san on how to capture the spirits, it is also quite conceivable for Shido-san to capture all the spirits with Fraxinus's help. However, that does not mean that it all ends, there. Capturing the spirits, is just the first step, yes? You have not filled me in what power Itsuka Shido possess, or why he is the designated _protagonist_, so I am forced to make the assumption that there is no one else that could fulfil the roles that you had made for him.'

Keima paused as he started to ascend the stairs towards, where he might reasonably get some privacy of his own.

'Furthermore, there is more than one Spirit. We have determined and concluded that as the fact... Itsuka Shido, he, would require to help more than a single spirit. The dynamics of a relationship, especially one that would have to be built from complete strangers, or possibly, completely different things are more complicated than one would imagine. Especially since this is the _real. _You could refer to your experts for their advice, Commander. At the very least, I am certain that they would agree with me on this point. To think that Shido-san would only require to know how to 'capture' a heroine was in essence, a mistake in the first place.'

Keima's reply was to the point, and logical. That made it harder for Kotori to even get mad at him again.

'U-Ugh... you really did think about everything, didn't you, Katsuragi...'

'That is to be expected, you were the one who requested for my help, you should have at least expected this much.'

Keima answered even as he frowned when he felt the bracelet that he was wearing start to tremble. That was a signal from Haqua that a Spirit was appearing.

As if on cue, a siren rang out loud and clear in the school.

_'Signs of a spacequake had been detected in the area. This is not a drill, please head to the latest shelter immediately. I repeat, signs of a spacequake had been detected in the area. This is not a drill, please head to the latest shelter immediately.'_

'Well then, commander. I guess you would need my presence in Fraxinus right now.'

Looks like it's time, and it was happening faster than he thought would happen. Now to see if his prediction as well as the 'ending' that he had seen earlier in the day would come to light.

This first mission that Keima was sure that Shido would fail.

* * *

..

'You were lucky that we got you out in time, Shido.'

Kotori gave Shido a measuring look even as her brother nodded while smiling back at her. Kotori was worried for her brother, and rightly so. He had just been told something outrageous from Keima, the ally that should have supposedly been their trump card in helping him save the Spirits.

But it had been a total role reversal as Keima had given him a next to impossible demand, and ultimatum to fulfil.

Break up with Tobiichi Origami, those five words sounded so easy, but was also the hardest thing that Shido would have to do. Kotori emphasized with Shido, being his younger sister, Kotori knew that Shido was a very kind hearted individual. She had been betting on that kindness for this entire mission, but Keima had to come in to demand the hardest thing from Shido. It was exactly because Shido was kind, that was it so hard to do just that.

But in the same vein, Kotori acknowledged Keima's reasoning all too well as well. Keima was looking at things beyond their current situation, Kotori should have expected it, no, she had been aware of it, but she had wanted to take things slowly one step at a time. She wasn't sure that Shido would be able to 'capture' any of the spirits or whether her plan would work at all. It all centered around Shido, and everything had been prepared to ensure that he would at least be able to try and accomplish the primary mission.

That was Kotori's mistake, she had been betting too much on the 'if Shido succeeded' phase, Keima was already past that stage. With his presence, he was confident enough to ignore worrying about that stage, and to instead focus on the aftermaths. One of the crew members of Fraxinus, 'Bad Marriage', was testament to that.

Kotori was both ashamed and upset at herself for looking at things only skin-deep. This would surely bite back her back in the end, now the question was 'when', and not 'if'.

'Yeah, thanks, Kotori... Origami she forced me into the shelter.'

..

Shido had just the same difficulty with what Keima had said, when it all sank in and when he realized what Keima was aiming at, Shido was unable to give a concrete answer as to why he was wrong.

It was a dilemma that he was unable to just dismiss or to accept easily, for him to give up on someone's feelings, especially when it was real and directed to him was wrong to him. No, it was more than wrong to him. But on the other hand, Keima was right as well. If he wanted to save every one of them, he would have to ignore or maybe dismiss the feelings of the other girls as well. Shido hadn't even thought of that, and he felt guilty that he hadn't done so in the first place.

Before he could truly start thinking about what he should do, the siren has rang, and in the next moment, he was being heralded by Reine towards a clearing to be transported to Fraxinus.

Unfortunately, Origami had other ideas, and she forced the two of them into the shelter before running off herself. Even as Reine commented that Origami was not practising what she was preaching, Shido knew that it was Origami's own way of trying to protect him.

He did not forget what Origami had told him the day after he had witnessed her fighting with the 'Princess', She had told him to stay away, to forget what had happened, and to not get involved. But despite that, she had confessed to him, and had shown that despite telling him not to get involved in something so dangerous, she herself was willing to meet it face on anyway.

It brought about a mixture of conflicting feelings to Shido. Was Keima right in saying that for Origami, her duties in AST was too important for her to give up? Or was she showing her own concern by ensuring that he was safe before going about to his duties?

It was probably like what Keima had said earlier, that there were elements that were no known to them. That there was more to Origami's story than the confession, that her 'route' was just starting.

If that was the case, then it was even harder for him to just simply reject Origami right now.

'Are you okay, Shido? The spacequake is ending... and we have found the Spirit causing it. It's the 'Princess'.'

Kotori reported even as she continued to look at her brother in concern. Keima had been transported to the ship earlier than Shido, but he had not taken his customary seat in the bridge of the ship.

Instead, he was lounging about at the back, near to the teleporter with his games. Keima hadn't exchange a single word with Shido even as Reine started briefing him about the situation.

'Ah, is that her?'

'Yep, that's the same spirit that you saw before... Well, are you ready?'

'…'

Shido paused for a moment, this was his first mission. The first step into helping the spirits, in trying to get the look of despair to go away from that girl's face. He didn't want to fail, he wanted to save her. So why couldn't he forget Origami's face when she clashed with her?

'Yeah, I'll go talk to her then.'

Shido gave a smile that was replaced by a whack on his head by Kotori, who declared that was not the point of it.

'Your job, is to get the 'Princess' to fall in love with you, to get her on a _date_ and then kiss her! Remember that, Shido!'

* * *

..

The sheer destructive nature of the Spirits was made clear to Shido again as he surveyed the damage that the spacequake had did to the school as it manifested inside it.

The end result was like an earthquake and a tornado had struck it, leaving the building half destroyed with rubble everywhere.

He was also aware that AST was unable to act as the spirit, the 'Princess' had taken refuge inside a building. It was apparently too dangerous for them to engage inside an enclosed space and thus they were forced to stand down.

That meant that it was the best time for Shido to attempt to 'capture' the spirit.

'Take good care of the princess, Shido.'

Kotori's parting words made Shido nervous, and he swallowed before pushing the door open to the classroom where the Spirit had taken residence.

'Ah...'

The first thing that Shido thought was that the Spirit, the same one he had seen on the Tenth, was too beautiful for words. The 'Princess' definitely warranted her codename, for she seemingly wore that title around her like a presence. She stood with her back straight, proud and unwavering, silhouetted in the setting sun. She had long, silky black hair that waved about in the evening breeze. One of the more defining traits about her was the big purple ribbon that held the hair in a high ponytail, and that coupled with the ethereal looking purple dress that she wore made her look simply stunning.

Her purple dress, which could pass off as armour as well, highlighted her figure and features very well, and it only made it harder for Shido to keep his eyes on her own as she turned to meet him.

The moment she did however, her eyes hardened and she raised one hand in the air to make a slashing movement in the air.

'EH!?'

Shido gave a cry of surprise when the air did indeed scream as she inflicted a vertical slash only inches away from him, and which decimated whatever that was in the slash's path. Her unexpected attack kicked up a dust of smoke that covered the area for a while even as Shido raised his hands up as a sign of peace.

'Wait! I'm, I'm not your enemy! Calm down for a second!'

Shido's heart was pumping at the near miss. If she had not been seriously contemplating to attack him, he would have died from that strike, there was no doubt about it.

Even if Kotori had tried to relieve him by saying that even if he failed, there was always a continue to use, Shido hadn't been reassured by that at all.

'Stop. Do not come any closer.'

Shido's cry seem to work as the 'Princess' stopped attacking, only for her to draw a horizontal line in front of her again. This was apparently another warning as she sliced a line in front of Shido, stopping him from moving closer.

Not that Shido wanted to anyway, if he approached her now, it would only reinforce the thoughts in her mind to flee. Everyone has a 'fight or flight' reaction, and to a nervous individual, new to the world, or one who was suspicious of everything, like the 'Princess', every single thing counts.

'Who are you.'

Even as Shido tried to continue the conversation, he was preempted by Kotori, who, together with the crew of the Fraxinus, was analysing the possible conversation options that was possible with the spirit.

..

'So... The options are:

I'm Itsuka Shido, I'm here to save you.

I'm an innocent passer by! Please spare me!

Before asking for someone else's name, you should tell your own.

Well, there we go... Make your choice everyone!'

As the crew started voting, Keima's voice was heard behind Kotori, causing the commander to jump a little as he stood beside her, looking at the options curiously.

'So, you are using the AI analyser after all.'

Keima seemed more than disappointed as he snorted before crossing his arms.

'Now then, what is the answer that you would give.'

Keima asked patiently even as the votes came in, overwhelming selecting option three as the answer.

'What... about you, **Capturing God-san**?'

Kotori asked patiently even as Keima raised an eyebrow before shrugging.

'if I must choose one, Option 1.'

Keima gave his own confident smile even as the other crew members objected, telling him that it was insincere, and it might not be the best thing to aggravate the Spirit at this point.

'That's right, and option three gives us control of the conversation as well. So, why did you pick option one, **Capturing God-san?**'

'As it's not about the line, any option would do. It's about how you express it.'

Keima's reply made everyone silent even as Shido charged ahead with Option three anyway.

'Before asking for someone else's name, you should tell your own!'

* * *

**Author's Notes: If you like it, do drop a review or two for me! Thanks!**


	7. You're just supposed to be the teacher!

Commandments of Capturing

**Chapter 7**** – ****You're just supposed to be the teacher!**

Original Title: The World Only God Knows / 神のみぞ知るセカイ and Date A Live/デート・ア・ライブ

Original Concept by Tamiki Wakaki & Tachibana Koishi

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: An AU world where 'Date A Live' & 'The World Only God Knows' happens simultaneously.**

* * *

**Author's Notes: Oh that title is just cheesy isn't it? Thank you, ****_bowpurity_**** for the edit.**

**I officially hate writing essays.**

* * *

..

'Before asking for someone else's name, you should tell your own!'

Shido knew it was a big mistake after he said that line, for the 'Princess's eyes narrowed even as she made a horizontal slash in front of her again. This time, Shido had the common sense to duck down as she made a horizontal slash that literally sliced through the entire second floor of the school, leaving him clutching his head while sitting on the floor.

'I knew that was going to happen...'

Shido gave a long suffering sigh even as he forced himself to not press one hand against the microphone in his ear. Keima had helpfully told him that if he had to do so, he had to do it discretely. It was just plain odd, and begged for attention if Shido kept doing that same movement no matter where he went.

'This is the end.'

As the dust cleared, Shido was greeted with the sight of the Spirit raising her hand above his head. Gathered In her palm was a swirling vortex of purple energy that crackled ominously.

'This is the end.'

The spirit declared emphatically even as Shido swallowed nervously.

'If you do not answer, I will consider you an enemy.'

* * *

..

As the crew of Fraxinus gave confused cries at how that line didn't work, Kotori turned to see Keima looking at his games again, paying no heed to the dire straits of Shido.

'… You wouldn't even want to help, would you, Katsuragi?'

Kotori bit her lip even as they watched Shido being forced to a corner by the 'Princess'. Even if she knew that Keima had told her that he would not be participating or even be helping him when the actual mission start, she had harbored some hope in that Keima would change his mind when he saw Shido in danger. Unfortunately, that did not seem to be the case as Keima did not even bat an eyelid when Shido introduced himself during duress.

'I am not the _protagonist_, I see no reason in helping. To do so would be a disgrace and would be dishonoring the heroine.'

Keima replied, his eyes not even leaving his PFP till he slowly looked up at her, challenging her. Or was he daring her to make that suggestion to him.

'Unless, you insist, commander.'

'What do you mean by that, Katsuragi?'

Kotori rose up to his challenge by crossing her arms as well, Katsuragi Keima was a rare talent, someone who she was certain that would be able to capture the spirit, through any means necessary.

However, Shido was central to the _plan, _if it was anyone other than him, it would not work.

'The _protagonist_ is decided by the player, commander. Now, who is the player here then? Who is the one who determines who is the _protagonist_?'

Katsuragi Keima had seen the ending, it was a possibility that he could not ignore. Even if it might break a few rules of his, it might also prove to be the most important lesson for Itsuka Shido as well.

That was, if Itsuka Kotori allowed it.

'… I can't believe you're even considering this.'

Realization dawned on Kotori even as Keima gave her a small satisfied smile before leaving the bridge, and a calculating Kotori even as Shido struggled with the Princess.

* * *

..

'I mean you no harm.'

Shido tried to remain calm even as the Princess moved closer to him, the purple orb fluctuating with every second. He knew he had to keep calm, to not panic and to not blurt out any irrelevant information to the capturing target. To do so would only make things even more confusing for her and for him as well.

Even as the Spirit continued studying him, Shido was relieved to see her tilting her head a little before speaking.

'We have met before, haven't we?'

'Yes, we met on the tenth, in the city. You remember me?'

The first impression was important, Keima had taught him that, but even if it wasn't an impression was an impression. Now that it was clear that the spirit knew of him, he had to expand on that impression she had of him.

'Yes, I remember.'

'A-Ah, yes...'

But how to expand it? It was not like normal conversation would work?

'I wouldn't forget that.. that's the first time we meet.'

Shido replied on instinct, hoping to garner a response from the spirit. There was a response, the signs of her cheeks flushing a little was proof of that. But it was apparently was still not enough to overcome the distrust she had of him, as she did not dispel the orb of power that she was threatening him with.

'You said that you had no intention of hurting me.'

The spirit leaned closer than ever, before dispelling the orb to adopt a kneeling posture instead. Her purple eyes met with Shido, and coupled with the close proximity, made Shido blush as on closer inspection, she was truly, a very beautiful person.

'What a blatant lie. What reason could you have to come here again?'

Shido had a line prepared for that, but that line was caught in his throat as there was another look in the spirit's eyes that made him hesitate. It was the same reason why he had wanted to help them in the first place.

The spirit itself was tired, was desperate, and most importantly, she was feeling despair while looking at him. She wanted answers, expected them but was confused at the same time. This was what Itsuka Shido felt as he asked a question back at her.

He did not know what had happened to her, why she kept asking whether others was trying to kill her. But he knew one thing, he did not want to see that look on her face ever again.

'Why are you looking at me in that way?'

His question made the Spirit blink in surprise, and Shido used that moment to continue what he felt.

'I have no intention of hurting you.'

As he did so, he pushed closer to the Spirit, forcing her to lean back as Shido continued looking at her. He did know what the Spirit saw in him, but her eyes widened even more as he continued.

'But not every human wants to kill you!'

'You're lying!'

This time the spirit did react, her eyes narrowing as she replied fiercely.

'Every human that I have seen told me that I deserved to die, every, single one of them.'

Her eyes were pained as she admitted that to him, that look of pain intensifying even as she slowly straightened her back, getting up from her position even as Shido followed, struggling to his feet to meet the spirit in the eye.

'Why do you deserve to die? Of course you don't!'

The Spirit tilted her head in surprise, but it was only for a moment before she narrowed her eyes in consideration. However, that was when everything went wrong.

Even as she opened her mouth to speak, to continue the conversation, Shido heard Kotori's voice warning him about something.

That 'something', came into view mere seconds later, blasting her way into the classroom to enter it as fast as she could.

'That is wrong. Of course she does, Shido. All Spirits, deserves to die.'

That line, delivered with no hesitation at all, was by the same silvered hair girl who had confessed to Shido a day ago.

'O-Origami?'

'Stand back, Shido. I will kill her for sure.'

* * *

..

Itsuka Kotori bit her lip in frustration at the turn of events. From everything that they had seen so far, Shido was doing a great job in keeping the Spirit's attention. Perhaps Keima was right in saying that they didn't need his help after all.

But, if that was true, he wouldn't have suggested to her that final resort...

The Princess's mood was getting better with each line that Shido returned with, especially when they had gotten closer when the Spirit had knelt in front of Shido. He was earning love points steadily as well, his words were catching the Spirit off guard, and were plainly lines that the Spirit wished to hear.

Everything was going well, until one member of the AST broke ranks, disobeying orders as she did so to engage the spirit directly.

Kotori was only able to get a few seconds warning as Origami acted without warning, she must have gotten news that Shido was talking with the spirit. That would explain why she had charged forward without hesitation, giving her no time to warn Shido about it.

Right now, Origami was engaging the 'Princess' even as Shido tried to stop the two of them. The good mood that the Princess was in had all but evaporated now, and her love points was steadily decreasing due to Origami's taunts.

..

'I would not let you hurt him, never him. Why are you with him?'

Origami's questions were answered by the Princess as she repelled each, and every one of her attempts to strike at her with her weapon. She could not use any of her other weaponry in fear of hurting Shido, and thus was forced to engage with only her beam sabre, that of course, was of little use against the Spirit.

'He was the one who sought me out. Who is he in relation to you?'

The Spirit answered evenly as her eyes narrowed after seeing Shido shouting at the two of them to stop. Stop? This was foolish, the other human was the one who was attacking her.

'He is my lover.'

Origami answered without hesitation, and the sensors on board of Fraxinus detected that that the love points and mood of the spirit had decreased significantly again.

'They are going into negative territory, Shido! If you blockhead don't do anything, you'll be hated by her!'

Kotori screamed even as Shido felt trapped, this was like experiencing a cat-fight. A deadly cat fight that might make one of the two parties be killed if he wasn't careful. However, he had no idea how to dispel the situation, and seeing how the crew of the Fraxinus was not giving any directions, they too were stuck, at least for the time being.

'S-Stop fighting, Origami, stop this! Why are you doing this? Why do you say that the Spirits deserve to die?'

Shido's question made Origami pause, and she leapt backwards to stand in front of Shido. With her beam sabre in front of her, Origami paused even as the Princess looked on at the two of them cautiously, and curiously. Unlike before, she had not raised her sword to fend off Origami, only using a barrier that she had produced to deflect her blows. This showed that she hadn't started becoming serious, at least, not yet.

'Yes, why do you say that I deserve to die. Why do humans say that I deserve to die.'

The Princess echoed question Shido's and this time, Origami winced before sheathing her sword. As the beam sabre disappeared, Origami grabbed one of Shido's hand before replying her.

'As my parents were killed by spirits. Thousands of people, have been killed by spirits. All of you deserve to die, you murderer.'

Origami's words struck an icy note to everyone present besides her self. The Princess's and Shido's eyes opened wide in shock, while the members of Fraxinus were shocked at the tone of Origami's voice.

They displayed emotion for the first time, this time, they were hiding anger and rage, most probably against the Princess even as Origami pulled Shido to her side, and subsequently wrapped an arm around his waist.

'I will not let you or any other spirit, kill someone important to me ever again.'

Tobiichi Origami activated her thrusters, and pulled Itsuka Shido away with her in a tactical retreat before anyone could recover from the bombshell that had been dropped on him.

..

For Itsuka Shido and for the crew on Fraxinus, this was his first failure. And of course, the first reminder, that the **Capturing God** spoke words that may have came from the _ideal_ but were borne through experience. That if one's determination wasn't enough, even the smallest things could change the course of history.

* * *

..

'Commander, the Spirit's mood is decreasing even further! It's... it's closing negative territory, commander.'

Even as the crew panicked at what to do about the situation, Itsuka Kotori was strangely calm. Reine noticed Kotori's calmness and stepped beside her, asking her what's wrong, until Kotori raised up one hand to silence her.

They had decided before that Ratatoskr should never leak information about the Spirit's actions to the Spirits themselves. The spirits were unknown beings, and the 'Princess' was apparently one of those who were ignorant of what she had done to the people in Earth. That was only natural, from her many manifestations, she had never been able to get a word edge in before being attacked by AST. She hasn't caused any fatalities, but that was because she was almost exclusively on the defensive.

Now that the truth was known to her, Fraxinus wasn't really sure how to approach her. Or whether, they should approach her in the first place. What would she feel, would she be disgusted with herself? Would she be mad? Would she, ever trust humans ever again? Or would she trust herself with humans again?

All those questions couldn't be answered so easily, but Kotori was still calm. Because, there was one person who could do something. Who had already volunteered, who had probably seen this coming a mile way.

'Katsuragi.'

'Well, what about it, commander?'

Keima's voice came from the microphone that she had passed him, and the entire crew paused as Kotori brought up the screen to show where Keima was.

'I give you permission, to go ahead.'

'…'

With a sigh, Keima pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose before nodding slowly.

'Well then, I have a heroine to save.'

Keima remarked softly even as he was teleported down to the school yet again.

* * *

..

The spirit, codenamed Princess looked at herself in, what? What was she feeling? Was she feeling disgust? Or was she feeling anger? Or despair?

She did not know any more, all she knew was that she had killed someone.

That she had killed thousands, perhaps even more, without knowing it.

Wasn't that what that other woman had told him? That the Spirits, the term these humans called her as, killed thousands of people?

It was, a very terrifying thought. Just knowing that was enough to make her feel sick.

'…'

She knew she couldn't be killed, none of what those humans had did could ever hurt her. At the start, she had wondered why they were always after her. Why they kept coming when they knew that they couldn't hurt her. She had tried to not hurt them as well, but sometimes, they came to her too quick or too aggressively, and she would put a little too much into her attack.

That wasn't her fault right?

'…'

She had even tried to talk to a few of them, but she didn't know what to tell them. What could she talk about anyway, she didn't have a name, and didn't know how to even converse with them. But now, she knew. She knew why they kept coming at her, why they never gave up trying to kill her, to attack her, to make her suffer.

They were doing that because she had hurt them, so they had the right to hurt her back, right?

'Shido was right, I agree with him.'

The sound of yet another voice made her turn, this time in the opposite direction, back to where she had been standing earlier. Like Shido, she found herself shading her eyes as she was greeted with an individual that was silhouetted in the setting sun, a figure that sat proudly on top of a table as he looked down at her in his position.

'What... do you mean?'

The Princess narrowed her eyes as she tried to make out this new figure, his voice was undoubtedly a boy, but his tone showed that he was confident with his words, different from the one before.

This of course, made her on edge as she raised one arm up to slash the air in front of her like before.

Before, she would have dismissed this off like nothing, but once she did that, she felt guilty as it was exactly like what that girl had said earlier, that she was a murderer. That she killed without thinking, that she...

'I agree with Shido, I do not like to see that look on your face, Princess.'

His voice echoed out again, and with the dust obscuring her vision, the Princess struggled to make out where he was, only to find him still sitting calmly on the chair. This was despite the near perfect slice of the school being taken out inches away from him.

Before the Princess was able to recover from his words, the boy stepped down from the table while offering a hand in her direction.

'My name, is Katsuragi Keima. I'll declare it now, I will save you from your despair, Princess. But to do that, I will have to take away your first love. Please, pardon my intrusion.'

Katsuragi Keima, the **Capturing God, **snatched the initiative from the Princess as he waited for a response from her.

* * *

..

On board the Ratatoskr, Kotori just got off the phone from Shido. Origami had deposited him back to a shelter before flying back to join her AST colleagues. That meant that Shido was out of the picture now, and Kotori wasn't sure how she should break the news that the _teacher_ was now the participant. It was decision that Kotori wasn't sure she should regret or should celebrate as just by his entry, Keima had been able to stabilize the mood of the Spirit.

It had started spiralling downwards to the negative territory, but his abrupt entrance and his words had helped to pull the Princess's mood back to the neutral territory. Now to see whether the **Capturing God** was as good as his name.

..

* * *

..

'… What, are you doing here?'

The Princess asked hesitantly as Keima continued to smile at her, there was this presence about him that she could not shake of. It was like, he smelt similar to her. There was something familiar, but something odd as well. As if... something was missing.

'I believe I have said so earlier, I came here, to save you.'

Keima gave her a slightly wider smile as he stayed in the same position, not pushing her and yet showing confidence that she would not attack him. Keima saw the hesitation in her eyes even as her temper flared, and he continued before she could act again.

'Do you wish to be saved?'

His question made her pause again, and just like that, Keima was slowly manoeuvring the Princess into where he wanted her to be.

'I... what do you care about me. I am a spirit, like the human said... I deserve death.'

The Princess's shoulders heaved for a moment before she composed herself, this time meeting Keima in the eyes as she tried to continue again. Sadly, Keima didn't give her the chance again.

'She said that Spirits killed thousands, millions. But she did not say it was you, who caused those deaths. Do you, wish to die then?'

'I-I don't.'

As the Princess answered Keima, the crew of Fraxinus saw her mood gradually rising as well. For Keima, he saw her cheeks flush as she continued looking at him curiously.

'Then smile, Princess.'

'E-Eh?!'

That abrupt request caused not just the Princess to give a small cry of surprise, the entire crew of Fraxinus just watched as the mood of the Princess raised significantly at his brazen request.

..

* * *

..

'Katsuragi he...'

'To think that he would be able to pull that line off without getting any repercussions.'

The panel of experts was simply baffled at the way Keima delivered those lines, and even if the AI scanner was trying hard to keep up with Keima's and the Spirit's exchange, it was failing badly.

'Kotori...'

Kotori felt Reine's hands on her shoulders before realizing that she had been gripping on to the edge of her seat so tightly that she was digging into the leather. That Katsuragi, the **Capturing God**, was delivering his promise to her as he had said he would.

'Haaah.. T-That's...'

Kotori couldn't help herself but to feel a mixture of euphoria and sadness, in that Shido had failed the mission she had given him, but glad that she still had someone else to rely on.

'… I... I don't... know... what's going on now.'

Kotori confessed even as Reine sighed, agreeing with her. Things, were going on too fast, all because of that boy, because of the **Capturing God**. He was not just controlling the conversation between him and the Spirit, but the entire plan of Ratatoskr. Like how she had described him before, this was, just too much.

Who was he, what, was he?

* * *

..

'W-What do you think you are asking me to do!?'

The Princess defensive action consisted of her turning away from him while clutching her chest. The fact that she had turned as red as a cherry was not lost on Keima. So, she was a tsundere. All things considered, this was the best and easiest possible outcome for him.

'Smile, princess. I do not wish to see that look of despair in your eyes again.'

Keima's words was like splash of cold water to her, but before the Princess could get mad at him again, Keima repeated his question.

'Allow me to save you, princess, that is what I am asking of you.'

If the heroine avoids the question, then it means that no matter what, one must always get them to answer it. No matter the way, no matter what one has to give up, that question was no doubt the one question that would unlock her route.

'What do you say, Princess? Would you allow me to save you?'

..

'A-Ahhh... Princess this, Princess that! I'm not a princess!'

Just as Keima expected, she was trying to avoid the question as she pointed her finger aggressively at Keima. That was fine, that was also a characteristic of a tsundere character. No doubt she was trying to salvage some of her pride even as Keima nodded in understanding. His action seemed to make the Spirit pause in surprise as she tilted her head, inviting her to go on.

'Well...?'

A moment of silence passed between the two of them till Keima broke the silence again after being sure that the spirit was not going to speak again.

'Well... what?'

As the spirit fidgeted in front of him, Keima also knew that he had successfully broken through the first stage of the capture. When the two parties were a little more comfortable with each other, it meant that the initial meeting was over. Now, it was time to build up the first impression that she had created of him.

The sensors on Fraxinus would testify to that as well, Keima had not just broken through the negative readings earlier, but had restored the Princess's mood and love points to where they were before.

'What is your name, Hime-sama.'

Keima gave the girl a teasing smile, dragging the phrase used to describe her a bit longer than usual even as she spluttered in outrage.

'S-Stop... Stop calling me that! I-I don't have a name...'

Even as her mood got a little downtrodden at the end, she nonetheless blushed as Keima chuckled again while raising both his hands theatrically before rubbing his chin.

'Would you allow me to come up with a name for you then?'

'Eh?'

'A name, for you. A name is important, hime-sama. It is the name that everyone would associate you with. I would be honored, as well as happy to be the one to choose a name for you.'

Keima was careful not to overdo it, but it still had a terrific effect on the girl as she turned redder than ever before nodding her head in reply.

'Well then, let me think...'

* * *

**Author's Notes: Cliff. Hanger.**


	8. Turning the Tables

Commandments of Capturing

**Chapter 8**** – ****Turning the Tables**

Original Title: The World Only God Knows / 神のみぞ知るセカイ and Date A Live/デート・ア・ライブ

Original Concept by Tamiki Wakaki & Tachibana Koishi

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: An AU world where 'Date A Live' & 'The World Only God Knows' happens simultaneously.**

* * *

**Author's Notes: Ah, balancing school, work + writing blows. Hope you guys enjoy the awesomeness**

**Thank you, ****_bowpurity_**** for the beta!**

* * *

..

'Well then, let me think...'

Keima spoke loudly even as his mind went through all the lines that he had spoken earlier. The Princess was undoubtedly a tsundere who was lost and unsure of her own standing in the world. From Ratatoskr's records it became clear that she was just a lost child with tremendous powers who wanted direction from anyone who was willing to give her any.

She was naïve, probably having only basic knowledge of how the world worked, and thus would be very easily led by anything that he said, as long as he was able to persuade her to acknowledge him as an equal.

That was the point of his questions, to press her to acknowledge that there were things that she was not sure of either. By doing so, she was effectively telling herself, and by extension, him, that if he was able to give her direction, he is an authority figure in that matter. Which would also mean that he was an equal. It was a very roundabout way to do so, but that was a proven way to get around the thorny exterior without actively provoking it.

Basically, Keima was using her own thought processes against her and in that respect, he had been successful.

The spirit had effectively given him a concession and a great weapon by giving him the chance to give her a name.

One thing that Keima neglected to mention was that names were a symbol of great power.

It was said that by knowing the true name of a demon, they were able to command it. Likewise, in the same train of thought, referencing to each other by their first name was creating a bond between two parties as well.

However, giving someone else a pet-name, or in this case a name to use, was of great significance as well. It goes beyond being what someone was going to call them for the rest of their lives, it was the name that when spoken, or being called, or even being written, would remind the person of whom had given it to them.

That was why, Keima had always stuck with his name and title, to do anything less would be an insult to the title of the **Capturing God**, when pressed to enter the protagonist's name. His name, which would be called by the heroines, would serve as a reminder that they were 'captured' by him.

In this case, whatever the name that was chosen by him, would be the name that this Spirit would be using for the rest of her life.

It was an important decision, and one that he had to consider carefully.

Thus...

'What did you say?'

'Her name, ask Shido-san for it.'

Keima whispered even as he closed his eyes while pretending to ponder about it. It was not a hard decision, he had named perhaps a thousand or more heroines with different, unique names that fitted their personality. But her name, was not his to give. It had to be given to Shido, that much, Keima was aware of.

'Fine, fine... could you stall her-'

Before Kotori could speak further, her eyes widened when Keima narrowed his eyes before leaping forward towards the Spirit, almost as to hug her. As she squawked in indignation, or perhaps embarrassment at seeing Keima do that, Kotori's eyes widened when she realized why Keima did that.

As the next moment, they were rudely interrupted by the same individual who had messed up the whole plan in the first place.

'You...?'

Tobiichi Origami was not alone, this time she had company as the entire squadron of AST burst through what was remaining of the ceiling into the half demolished classroom. It was fortunate that the AST had entered by using their beam sabres to cut through the roof before landing into the classroom itself. If they had decided to make their entrance by firing their weapons into the classroom instead, Keima would be dead by then. Or perhaps like what Origami did, they were able to receive intelligence that someone was with the Spirit again. Whatever the case was, there was no doubt that it was perhaps the worse possible scenario for them, and Kotori found herself holding her breath even as the cloud of dust that had been kicked up at the entry slowly settled.

'Impossible.'

Kotori wasn't sure if it was herself, or someone else that had uttered that out of pure shock, but when the dust settled, all of them could see that the Princess was actually actively placing herself between Keima and AST.

AST themselves was unsure what to make of the situation, they were also not the only ones. Ratatoskr as well as the Princess were confused as what was going on. The only person that would know what was going on, was again, the **Capturing God** as he whispered something to the Princess.

* * *

..

Keima was very glad that Haqua was still around, invisible to everyone but her. Haqua had actually made several comments and faces at him while he was delivering his lines. Even if she was a good partner, much better than Elsi, the lack of respect she had for him was starting to show. Especially when he started the actual 'capturing' process with the Princess. There was no doubt that he was winning this little tug-of-war between the two of them, at least until Haqua's warning that AST was moving towards their direction. Even as Haqua took cover herself, Keima grimaced before throwing himself at the Princess.

Understandably, she was not at all pleased with his actions, and she squawked angrily while blushing in embarrassment. Even if doing that was a potential part of Keima's plan to capture the Princess, doing so right now was not just to keep her off balance, both literally and figuratively, it was part of the next step that he could see happening.

As a matter of fact, this development was even better than he thought. Since he was going to go all out with an ambitious plan to safeguard the identity as well as the protection of the spirits anyway, delivering that plan to the only force that was authorized to attack, and was thus the number one enemy of Keima's own plan, was a blessing in disguise.

As Keima apologized to the Princess about the rough treatment, the Princess's own reply was cut short as the two of them saw the roof being sliced apart in front of them.

Keima was also pleased to note that the Princess reacted almost immediately to the threat as well. Keima might be the **Capturing God**, but he was fundamentally human, and thus was unable to defend himself if the superhuman beings duelled it out again.

If the Princess was aware that she was actively defending him as well, she was not aware of it till she noticed Keima's hand releasing hers. That was Keima's cue to speak again, whispering into the Princess's ears, even as the Princess turned redder than ever while standing in front of Keima.

'I said that I'll save you, Hime-sama. But for now, could you please save me as well?'

It was a ridiculous request, one that came out of the blue. But as there was nothing else for her to do, and everything else to gain by accepting Keima's plea, the Princess nodded her head in agreement.

..

'What are you doing with him, Princess. Let the boy go.'

One of the members of AST took a step forward while gesturing to him. The one who spoke up was probably the leader of the entire group, but Keima's attention was not on her at the moment. His attention was on Tobiichi Origami, who didn't look too interested till the two of them exchanged looks. The moment they did, Origami's eyes widened just a little in recognition before she bit her lip nervously. Good, Keima wanted a 'shared memory' with Origami as well. He wanted a part of Origami's route as well, that route itself would surely unlock another part of the history behind itsuka Shido, Keima could just feel it.

'I am with her of my own violation. All of you are part of AST, the Anti Spirits Team, am I right?'

Keima spoke out loudly to let everyone of them hear him. Judging from the way that almost all the members shifted a little, they were unprepared for someone, or anyone for that matter, to know who they were.

Before they could even continue the conversation, Keima continued on patiently, scanning his eyes around the entire squadron to try and remember their faces. It was not in his nature to do that, he simply had no time for the _real_, but in this case, it might pay off to do just that. The members of AST might be ordered to come for him, either to interrogate him, or to simply threaten him after this event. It wasn't like Keima could ask Haqua to just wipe their memories when he successfully captured the Princess.

Well, he could do just that, but it would be just postponing the problem, and making it clear that he was not just normal human.

What Keima wanted to accomplish right now was to have an unidentified third party between the Spirits, and AST. Ratatoskr was supposed to be the third party, but they were too conservative and wished to worked in the sidelines. Doing that offered some benefits but it also had their own flaws. Keima was not the sort to hide in the shadows, he would rather tackle things head on if he could.

Especially since they had already broken the balance by telling the Spirits why they were attacking and hunting them actively.

'I made a promise to her, that I will save her. I won't let all of you continue to hurt her.'

Keima declared loudly, and even as the Princess's face heated up even more, not to mention how some of the AST members did the same, Keima remained impassive. If one could get so easily embarrassed so easily by such a simple line, they wouldn't last against one of Keima's more dramatic confessions.

'You're insane, do you have any idea what this thing, what this Spirit has done?'

Keima frowned when the leader of AST spoke again, this time a little fiercely. It was also worth it to notice that everyone of the girl seemed to flinch, before going back to their ready position. If all of them reacted so strongly to the Spirit's identity as well as their destructive powers, there might be a connection between all the girls and the spirits themselves.

Most likely they had similar circumstances with Origami, but Keima was just speculating at this point.

'What, this _'thing'_ has done?'

Keima's actually sounded outraged as he repeated his line, causing AST to pause again as Keima stepped out to stand beside the Princess. With his hand still firmly holding hers, Keima told them angrily that it was not right to call the Princess as a 'thing'.

'She is a human being, just like all of us. Just like you.'

'Just like... us? You have got to be kidding! They are the ones who caused so much destruction, they kill people for gods sake! Can't you see what she did to the school? Or what she did to the town before? You wouldn't call this... this THING a human if you know what they are truly capable of!'

The AST commander snarled angrily as she advanced, only for the Princess to pull Keima behind her again nervously. She had turned paler again, and her head had lowered a little due to guilt. But since she was more than willing to keep her promise to protect Keima, he was satisfied with this turn of events.

..

What Keima wanted to do was to allow both sides, the Princess and AST to know each other's stance. The main problem had already been highlighted by Ratatoskr and New Hell a long time ago. The problem was simply that there was a lack of communication between the two parties. It might be that the Spirits were aware of what was going on, or they might be ignorant to it. Simply interacting with the Princess showed that it was the latter, and if it was the latter, it meant that there was still room for negotiation if both parties were willing to talk.

Unfortunately, at least one party was not willing to talk with the other. But if they got over that barrier, there was the chance for reconciliation.

With the Princess's mood fluctuating between both levels, and the AST members getting more agitated and madder at Keima for saying those words to them, Keima knew that he needed to give the AST members some time to cool down.

With the Princess standing between the two of them and him not agitating AST to actually ignore his status as a human to start attacking again, Keima instead took the offensive again when he asked the Princess whether did she killed anyone.

It was a very blunt question, one that made the blood drain from the Princess's face. But she did answer in the end, telling Keima that she definitely did not.

'I believe you.'

Keima's words made the Princess blush again, but that was not the reaction he was fishing for. He was fishing for reactions from AST instead, and from how the members stiffened but never objected meant that the Princess was probably right.

'You did mention that the Spirits were responsible for the deaths of thousands, of perhaps millions... but she, is not one of them. Why would you attack someone who does not wish to hurt anyone?'

Keima asked reasonably, even if he knew instinctively that reason did not always apply to everything. That was the main flaw of the _ideal. _Sadly however, Keima did understand the rationale of AST as well, it was always better to be safe than sorry when facing beings of unnatural power that could destroy entire cities by themselves. It was by no means a bad plan, if Keima did not know that the spirits could be saved in this way, or if they were not _heroines_, would Keima have agreed with them?

Sadly, since the _ideal_ did not give him the chance to be on their side, Keima had to side with the Princess and the Spirits in general.

'You don't know anything about her, Katsuragi.'

It was Origami who spoke up this time as she strode up to stand beside her commander. Even as she brandished her light saber in front of her, Origami told Keima to step aside.

'She might not have done all those things by her own accord, or even willingly. But that does not mean that she is _not_ a threat to humans just by existing. Step aside, Katsuragi, you do not know who what are dealing with.'

Origami's words made sense as well, and this time it was the spirit's turn to look down guilty as Keima internally applauded her words. This was a battle of words now, not a battle of strength. And it was a battle that Keima could not lose, not without putting the entire plan of Ratatoskr in jeopardy.

'That is true, what you said is true, Tobiichi-san.'

Keima's confession made the AST members relax even as the Princess stiffened as well. It was like the ultimate betrayal to her, and Keima felt her hands tremble for a moment before they dropped again. No doubt she was giving up again, but this wasn't what the end of Keima's speech. No, it was far from over.

'But all I am seeing here, is all of you trying to attack someone who, has explicitly shown no desire to hurt anyone. As a person, I cannot allow that to happen. It might be true that she could be a threat to all of us, but right now, all of you are the ones threatening her, not the other way around.'

Keima's words made the Princess face grow hotter, and redder again. It also had the side-effect of making the members of AST fidget even more. The standoff was complete, both parties had acknowledged each other's stance.

'This is ridiculous, you, Katsuragi, was it? Stand aside! We are authorized to take down the spirit no matter what the cost would be. We cannot afford to threaten millions in Japan because of your selfishness. Stand aside, or be viewed as a threat to all of as well. We would give you ten seconds to consider'

Even as AST was the first side to blink, they were the first to raised their weapons at him. Keima had the chance to witness the first sign of his successful capturing of the Princess. It was her turn to grip his hand softly as she pulled Keima to the side with a sad smile after a few moment of the tense face off. To be honest, even Keima himself couldn't plan this out better himself.

'… Thank you, Katsuragi... was it?'

The princess's actions made everyone but Keima pause. The **Capturing God** however, recognized what was coming next and he was glad to see that the Princess had decided to make _that_ particular decision. It meant that he had read her accurately.

..

'Thank you, for saying that you'll save me. You, already saved me by defending me for so long.'

As the princess walked towards AST, Keima simply refused to let her go, despite her trying to shake his hand off. The AST members on the other hand, was unsure what to make of the situation, but nonetheless they retained their aim at her till she stopped a few feet in front of the commander and Origami.

'Thank you, Katsuragi... but I don't want you to get hurt because of me. Y-You're a human... not like me, so...'

With that line, the Princess raised her hands up in surrender to the dumbfounded AST members even as Keima told her desperately that she didn't need to do that.

'I won't resist, and I won't run away... I understand what all of you had said. That I am a threat, that I might cause danger and harm to the rest of the humans. So... please, at least don't hurt him because of me.'

It was stupid, and it went against everything that she had done up till now. But seeing what the boy was doing for him, seeing what he was willing to give up, seeing how brave he was, the spirit felt that she had to do something for him as well. For everything that he had done in that short time, from stealing her breath away, from making her believe in hope again, even if it was for only a short time, there was only one thing she could do for him.

In front of AST, the Princess, who had valued pride above everything else, gave it up for the boy who had stood up for her. She closed her eyes, no doubt waiting for the end till she sensed someone standing in front of her.

'That's not right.'

Keima's words made the Princess's heart skip a beat as he stood firmly in front of her, stubbornly not giving way even as AST continued to raise their weapons against the two of them.

'If you have to kill her, you will have to do it over my dead body.'

Keima declared emphatically, the clique line would normally be enough to make anyone else roll their eyes before rolling over in laughter, but when it was delivered by Katsuragi Keima in this exact situation, it only served to make things even tenser than before.

The stalemate was now completely and utterly set, the two sides had played their cards and Keima had successfully used each of their own moves against them.

By utterly abusing the Princess's naivety as well as her own track record, he had been able to cause the AST to hesitate, and to even cause them to question their own mission and loyalties for a moment. It was the same for AST as well, Keima had been able to hammer home the human's fear for the Spirits to the Princess, causing her eagerness to defend herself be replaced with a wish to be understood.

What they needed now, was for one side to give in...

* * *

..

On board the Fraxinus, the entire bridge, no, the entire ship was totally silent in the face of the **Capturing God's** script. It was important to note that Haqua, who was looking over the entire thing, was in the same state.

Only she was more inured to the **Capturing God, **and was silently cursing and yet praising him at the same time.

The crew of the Fraxinus on the other hand, was simply flabbergasted at the web that Keima had weaved, seemingly at the drop of a hat. It apparently wasn't enough for Keima to raise the love points of the Princes to the max with his actions, but he had to also challenge, and apparently cause a deadlock with AST?

'… Katsuragi is just... too much.'

Reine finally commented while rubbing her forehead, and the other members of the Expert Panel agreed with her. Some of the members had even fainted from some of the more intense standoffs between Keima and AST.

Itsuka Kotori on the other hand, barely noticed that the chupa-chup lollipop that she had been sucking on, had dropped to the floor in her shock. Like the rest of the crew, she had not expected such a performance by Keima, nor had she expected all of his ruses and gambles to work as well as it did,

Even as she finally gathered herself to think logically again, Kotori recognized and acknowledged that just in the matter of around ten minutes, Katsuragi Keima had effectively held the first talks between the Spirits and humans, and to think that the first party to actually exchange such talks were AST, the group that was actively adamant to wipe them off the planet.

It was equivalent to salmon negotiating with bears, or rather lollipops negotiating with humans, whatever the better metaphor was. Whatever the case was, this was big, and depending on what happened next, it could very well spell the next stage of negotiations between the Spirits and humans!

'Katsuragi, you magnificent son of a bitch.'

Kotori gripped the handle of her chair tightly even as she ignored the sound of her phone ringing incessantly.

* * *

..

'Tsk, we're leaving.'

In the end, AST was the one who blinked first. The commander, who had apparently been in contact with someone else, gave the order that caused the entire ranks of AST to mumble in surprise.

'Shut up, and get moving now.'

As she snapped and ordered the other AST members to leave, she paused to take one last look at Keima and the Princess.

'What is your name, Kid. You got definitely got some balls... or is just crazy.'

'Katsuragi, Katsuragi Keima. I'm a transfer student in Raizen High school and Tobiichi-san's classmate.'

Keima did not hesitate or fall for the gibe at his character, in fact he was waiting for her to ask this question. Normally it would be good to keep his identity a secret but with his intervention in probably the biggest kept secret in the world, it was useless to expect his identity to be kept secret. He might as well give it all up now to gain some information in reply.

'Hmph... I'll remember this, Katsuragi. Some day, what you said earlier will be engraved on your tombstone. Count yourself lucky I didn't pump you full of lead today.'

As the commander prepared to leave together with Origami, she paused when Keima asked her for her name as well.

'Kusakabe, Kusakabe Ryouko, captain of the Anti-Spirits Squad.'

She answered calmly before taking off, leaving Tobiichi Origami to hesitate even as Keima gave her a small nod.

'I will see you tomorrow, Tobiichi-san.'

'… Tomorrow.'

Origami gave him a small nod as well before leaving the two unmolested in the destroyed classroom. As they did, Keima finally relaxed. It was a mixture of his own nerves of steel, as well as his experience with the Weiss that had kept him so stoic up till now. But with AST gone, and probably for good this time, Keima found himself too tired for words.

In front of him, the invisible Haqua had a resigned smile on her face as she applauded Keima's oscar winning performance. If she was a sceptic before, she was won over now. A moment later, Keima felt someone hold on to his hands again, this time holding it tightly as he was pulled down to sit on the ground.

'Y-You, you idiot! What were you doing just now!'

The Princess gave him an angry look before burying her face into Keima's chest in disbelief, and in an apparent attack of her derey-derey nature. Even as Keima awkwardly petted the girl's head, Keima was aware of Kotori's voice congratulating him over the microphone as well. It wasn't just her, it was the entire crew of Fraxinus who was cheering and congratulating him over the din.

He had done the almost impossible, chasing away the AST while saving a spirit under their very noses. There was almost certainly going to be a follow up with AST and with Ratatoskr after everything settled down, but it was obvious that the Princess was the first spirit to be let off by AST, ever.

Even if she still retained her powers as a potential Weiss and might currently still be a target, AST had still been forced to make the decision to leave her alone for a while. It could be for investigation, it could be to avoid a bigger conflict, but whatever it was, Keima had indeed did what he had said out to do. He had saved her, and now, it was time to wrap up the first success for him and for Ratatoskr.

..

'I said that I'll protect you, didn't I? I did, as I promised.'

Keima's words only served to make the Princess turn redder than ever as she started to strike at him half-heartedly while hiding her face from him. Standard Tsundere gesture, nothing that Keima was not used to, and Keima chuckled even as he slowly eased the Princess's grip on him.

With the two of them face to face, and staring at each other, Keima reminded her of what they were talking about before they were rudely interrupted by AST.

'I have the perfect name for you.'

'O-Oh... what is it, Keima?'

'Tohka.'

'T-Tohka...'

As the princess repeated her name to herself softly, Keima gave a small sigh before turning to stare at Haqua again, who gave him a confused look as she tilted her head in confusion, not understanding what Keima wanted now.

This battle wasn't over, it was just starting... Keima just hoped that she, and Shido was up to the challenge.

'Let's go, Tohka.'

'G-Go... where?'

'You'll see when we reach there.'

* * *

**Author's Notes: If you like it, drop a review to tell me why you liked it!**


	9. Ensuring it Sticks

Commandments of Capturing

**Chapter 9**** – ****Ensuring it Sticks**

Original Title: The World Only God Knows / 神のみぞ知るセカイ and Date A Live/デート・ア・ライブ

Original Concept by Tamiki Wakaki & Tachibana Koishi

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: An AU world where 'Date A Live' & 'The World Only God Knows' happens simultaneously.**

* * *

**Author's Notes: Thank you, ****_bowpurity_**** for the beta!**

* * *

..

Words failed Murasame Reine as she greeted her two guests to the Fraxinus, Katsuragi Keima and the newly christened Tohka, AKA, the Spirit codenamed as 'Princess'.

She had tried to tell herself that it was a dream, for it really felt like a dream. What Keima just did, simply shattered every single agreement and understanding that everyone had about spirits. Keima had also managed to force one of the few organisations who recognized spirits to break one of the core reasons and rules that they were created for in the first place.

It was, like how she had muttered so many times in the past hour, just way too much for one person to do.

But yet, the proof that it was all true was apparent to all of them. The Spirit, Tohka, was trying to hide behind Keima nervously even as Reine greeted the two of them.

'Welcome back, Katsuragi-san. And... this must be Tohka-san.'

As Reine bowed to him, Keima returned the bow before getting Tohka to bow as well.

'It is considered polite to bow back in greeting to someone else, especially to one's senior, Tohka.'

Keima explained patiently even as Tohka swallowed before bowing to her, keeping her eyes on Reine as best as she could. The Spirit was still suspicious of people, but Reine did not blame her at all.

'I-I'm Tohka...'

'And I am Murasame Reine, it is nice to meet you, Tohka-chan.'

Reine gave the spirit a smile before shaking her head at Keima again, apparently it would take a while till she could get used to looking at him again with a straight face.

Itsuka Kotori though, had no such problem, as with the rest of the Fraxinus crew, who simply saluted him when he entered the bridge. Kotori did continue to have a lopsided grin on her face as she greeted him with a dramatic sigh. Tohka on the other hand, just clung onto his hand while looking around like a startled rabbit. It was in such a contrast to her confident demeanour that Keima had relented, and held her hand as well to reassure her even as the rest gathered around the two of them.

'I admit, I did not pay my respects to the **Capturing God** today, would my offering be a little too late, Katsuragi-san?'

Kotori teased Keima even as he sighed while nodding to the rest of the crew. He was however, not interested in all of this right now, there was someone else he had to speak to, something he had to do at all costs and would take priority above everything else.

'Commander, before we begin the debrief, I would wish to speak to Shido.'

'Shido...?'

Kotori wasn't sure what Keima had in mind but since his track recorded had proven himself, Kotori simply nodded and pointed him to where Shido was, letting him go find him while the rest of the crew introduced themselves to Tohka.

Tohka was too overwhelmed by the crew, who were showering her with attention to notice Keima easing her off and leaving to confront Shido.

* * *

..

'Keima?'

Keima found Shido sitting by himself near the end of the skyship, which probably meant he was sulking a little, or perhaps he was overthinking it. Either way, it was not where he expected Shido to be. Keima didn't have any lines for him, not when he was sure that whatever he said would just ended up backfiring on him.

This wasn't supposed to be his story, he wasn't the protagonist, and yet, he had effectively taken that role away from him, the _protagonist_, the one whose Ratatoskr's entire plan hinged on him.

At least, Keima knew that the possibility of him sulking was quite high, but it wasn't a guarantee. This time, Keima proved to be wrong as Shido offered his congratulations for helping to save the Spirit.

'I guess you really did walk the talk, Keima... you did save her, the Princess.'

Keima wasn't fully sure whether to accept Shido's word at face value here. Why were the Itsuka siblings so hard to trust?

'But Keima, about what you said before...'

'About whether I was serious in telling you that you need to break up with Tobiichi Origami-san?'

Keima kept his voice strictly neutral, it would not help things if he adopted a 'told you so' tone right now. As a matter of fact, Keima truly did not feel obliged to share that information with him. It was like he said, he only did so because of the role that he had accepted. If one took that away, Keima wouldn't have cared if Shido or Ratatoskr had failed... he was **God**, but that didn't mean he had to save everyone at all.

Still, Keima felt that even if he hadn't agreed to help Ratatoskr out and if he had meddled in the affair anyway, all of the possible outcomes would have ended up with the same result. His primary mission with the Weiss Capturing Squad was to help with the Spirits after all.

'No, not that... that, I need to first have the determination to break the girl's heart. It's been... bothering me all this time. I... I don't think it's right, for you to think that way. Even if you... might think that it's better for them, even if you explain to me, and persuade me that it is better for them... I, I would never believe in it.'

Shido bit his lip briefly before he continued again, this time looking up to meet Keima's eyes as he continued.

'Origami she, is a real person. And, she views me as an equal too. Even if she never told me that she liked me, she was willing to go out with me... That, itself, is the sign that she accepts me and is willing to let me be with her. I can't, and I shouldn't, just break that trust she has for me that easily... right? It's just, not right and...'

Shido's question made Keima pause before he nodded to him, encouraging him to go on.

'… Do you have the determination then, to break the Princess's heart when you said you wanted to save her? Are you really, okay, with breaking her heart, breaking what she has seen in you to... save her?'

Shido was unprepared to see Keima nodding his head with a small smile on his face, it was not a sad smile, it was one of satisfaction. Katsuragi Keima was satisfied in hearing Shido ask that question as it was the question that was the most important of all.

'Of course. I am **God **and as **God, **I am tasked with greater things than to accept a heroine. You must remember this, Shido-san, that even if you are the ones who would select a heroine, the _heroines_ themselves were the ones who were the ones who chose you. They were the one who gave you the possibility, the chance, and the opportunity to be a _protagonist_ in the first place. Because they did, they are also the ones who had given you the rights to choose, and select what would happen in the future. Till the time where you made your decision on who exactly is the _one_, all of them would not be able to move on. One could say that it is very easy to save one, but it is extremely difficult to save every single one of them. If you are unable to carry that weight on your shoulders, or to be able to believe in your heroines, you would be unable to save all of them. Believe in them, do you really think their love for you is so shallow? Or, are you simply unable to believe them in the end, Shido? The girls who placed their faith and fate in you.'

Keima's long monologue made Shido simply stare back at him in confusion. The last question itself was especially jarring and Shido paused to try to understand it, but Keima had never been the easiest individual to understand.

Especially when he wanted Itsuka Shido to figure out what he meant by himself. Keima had meant what he had said, that he would not assist Shido in all his tasks as the _protagonist_, but if he had to intervene to save the girls, he would do so.

All in all, Keima knew and felt that he was being a hypocrite, at least in Shido's and his own eyes. He was not trying to snatch the role of the _protagonist_ away from him and therefore, there was still one last thing that he had to do. If not, the title would surely be granted to him, that by itself was troubling indeed.

Just like how he had described at the heroines being the one who would _select_ the hero, Keima knew that in more than one occasion, he had been the one to determine for them who exactly their hero was. There were two ways to properly define 'capturing' after all. The first was to be the protagonist who would save the heroine who was asking for help. The other, was to save the heroine by solving their problems regardless of the situation. By forcibly solving their problem, anyone could be a _protagonist_ for a heroine while replacing their original protagonist of choice.

This was how Keima had been able to _capture_ all the Weiss so far. Even if he had never openly told anyone how he felt about that, to say that he found it to be the right thing to do, having someone else telling him how to do things would be wrong. He was **God**, and therefore, his actions to save them was an act of **God** and was something that a mortal could not even begin to comprehend. As he was beyond all of them, beyond what they themselves might feel, it was alright for him to be the one to save them. Isn't that, right?

Whatever the case was, Keima had always done what he had promised to do, and in this case, Keima told Shido about what would happen when he had determination to break up with them and with her, Tobiichi Origami.

..

'It would hurt, if it doesn't, that means that you have not accepted Tobiichi Origami-san into your heart.'

Keima paused when Shido asked him if it would be alright if he didn't feel anything then. To that, Keima simply gave a shrug while sharing another nugget of wisdom with him.

'Every action must be accompanied with an emotion, a reason, everything... happens for a reason. If you do not feel anything, there must also be a reason. If you do not feel anything when you break a heroine's heart... that would mean that she is not the one you have selected. However, if she was... then, you have to ask yourself this...'

Keima paused as he looked backwards, hearing a presence coming towards him. The person that was trying to find him, turned out to be Tohka, who smiled happily when she saw Keima.

'Keima! You're here!'

As she ran towards Keima, Keima kept that impassive face before turning to look at Shido again.

'Why did you accept her in the first place?'

Keima's words made Shido shudder, it was a question that he had not thought about before, and he found himself alone again before he realized it. Tohka having pulled Keima with her back to the bridge.

* * *

..

'Keima, Keima! I made many friends today!'

Tohka beamed happily even as she settled down beside Reine, who was still unable to meet him in the eye. Keima also noted clinically that Tohka had shed off the shy personality that she had when she first met everyone, but in the same time, also she had also shed the arrogant and confident woman that she was at the start. Guess that facade was truly a false one. To get some answers, Keima turned to Reine, who explained to him.

'We introduced Tohka-chan to everyone.'

Reine's answer begged additional clarification, and Keima turned to Kotori, who was also with them as she sucked on yet another chupa-chup lollipop.

'Tohka was nervous at the start, wasn't she? But we in Ratatoskr had always welcomed Spirits as one of us, there's no need for her to feel afraid, or nervous amongst us. Besides, the only people who think Spirits are at fault is AST and the government. The people themselves doesn't feel that way.'

Kotori reassured Tohka again, causing the spirit to smile happily again as she nodded her head.

'Keima, I'm glad that you won't be put in danger in trying to save me again.'

Tohka beamed even as she blushed too, and that blush deepened when Keima remarked that he did really save her today, didn't he?

'But it's not over yet, Tohka.'

Keima continued sternly even as he reached out to hold her shoulders and turned her to face him in the eye. Keima also noted clinically that if not for him holding her up, Tohka's legs would have given way anyway as her breathing quickened while she squirmed weakly in his grasp.

Beside the two of them, Reine too had turned bright red even as Kotori tried hard to keep her own cool while staring at the two of them seemingly being intimate in public. At least the girls seemed to think so, Keima certainly didn't.

'You would have to prove to them that you deserve this chance to stay with humans, so you shouldn't leave by yourself any time soon, no you mustn't leave from this point onwards. AST might have left you alone this time due to my interference, but there's no guarantee that they'll continue to do that if you cause another spacequake when you return again.'

One of the problem for the spirits, was that they kept disappearing back to some unknown dimension by themselves. It was common knowledge for AST as well as Ratatoskr that Spirits could come and go from the unknown dimension of their own accord. But when they returned to earth, they would cause Spacequakes. The Princess, or in this case, Tohka, had always caused a spacequake when she materialized in this world. Even Haqua wasn't able to determine where they disappeared to, it might be possible if Haqua tagged Tohka and let her return to her own dimension but the risks involved were too great, and who knows what will happen if someone on the other side could use that tracker to track Haqua down themselves.

In order to get AST of their backs, as well as to ensure that Tohka remains classified as a spirit that was not a threat, Keima and Ratatoskr must ensure that Tohka does not cause any harm to people and was able to assimilate and be one with humans as well, effectively neutralising her threat. It was also a fact that Tohka would forever be monitored due to her status as a spirit, there was no way around that, but it beats being chased, threatened and possibly killed in any rate.

The original plan of having Shido seal away her powers was probably on hold now at least till he settled the issue with Origami, before going back to capturing Tohka, at least that was the plan. Keima knew it was possible, but it was going to take a long journey in order to accomplish that, her love points for him was too high to be taken over by Shido any time soon.

'I-I... T-Then, I can stay? I, I can really stay here?'

'Did I say you couldn't? Or did I not offer you the chance to do that yet? Of course you can stay.'

Keima offered Tohka a smile, causing the spirit to cheer in happiness and subsequently leaped forward to hug Keima. Or at least, she tried to, as Keima had raised a hand to stop her even as he turned to look at Kotori. The young commander simply grinned while saying that she'll arrange for something for him since she owed him that at least.

'But in the meantime, why don't you stay with Katsuragi?'

Kotori teased Tohka even as she turned redder than ever, Keima on the other hand vetoed it while suggesting that she stay on the Fraxinus instead of bunking with him.

'I'm sorry, Tohka, but I think that it's a little too early for you to do that.'

'Ehh.. but why not? Does Keima not want me to spend time with you? But I want to spend time with you, Keima!'

Keima had to give it to Tohka, she might be super naïve and innocent, but she sure could utter lines that would have melted any protagonist's heart. Sadly, he was the **Capturing God**, and even if Kotori was blushing while elbowing him teasingly, Keima remained unmoved as he replied coolly.

'Because the commander and the crew would be able to teach you things about the human world faster than I ever could. By learning the proper etiquette, proper behavior as well as common sense, you'll be able to live freely among people, you want to do that, don't you? Specifically, do you remember what you were doing before I introduced myself to you? You can't do that if you want to stay here, you would definitely kill someone with your powers.'

Keima gave Tohka a very dry look even as she tried to remember what she had been doing then. When she did, Tohka quickly looked away guilty, trying to avoid eye contact with him as Keima prodded her again, not allowing her to just ignore him.

'Tohka, you were trying to attack someone who was trying to save you. If you truly didn't want to hurt anyone, you wouldn't threaten anyone.'

'B-But, I really... didn't know he wanted to do that... and, well...'

Tohka gave a weak whimper even as she protested Keima's treatment of her. Tohka tried to elaborate and defend herself by grabbing Keima's shoulder, only to fail as he gave a small cry of pain as Tohka gripped him a little tighter.

Honestly, Keima was exaggerating the pain that he felt, but even if she was still holding back, the fact that she had a strong grip was unmistakable. Tohka, a spirit, was akin to living in a glass world. To say that she could shatter the entire world wouldn't be that much of a stretch, seeing was able to fend off the entire squad of AST members without even breaking a sweat.

It was important to stress to Tohka that, even if she could be accepted her, she was still someone unnatural, and very powerful.

'I'm sorry, Keima! Really, I am really sorry! Are you hurt, you aren't right? I'll be more careful in the future!'

Even as Tohka panicked while Reine gave Keima a small check up, the head analyst gave another small sigh when Keima gave her a knowing look. Kotori, who was trying to console Tohka, gave Keima another wry grin as she looked on.

..

'Commander, I apologize for interrupting.'

The peaceful atmosphere was interrupted by Kyouhei, who nodded to Keima before reporting that the _Round _wanted to speak to her.

'I... I see, well then, do excuse me.'

Kotori twitched for a moment before nodding in acknowledgement. The commander of Fraxinus eased Tohka from her, the spirit looking a little confused at the sudden change, before following Kyouhei out of the room.

'Keima, where is Kotori going?'

'To meet someone important.'

Keima replied bluntly, even as he watched as Haqua quickly followed the two of them as well. It was going to be a very interesting day indeed.

'But Tohka, back to what we were talking about earlier... You would have to be more careful, you wouldn't want to hurt anyone by accident, wouldn't you?'

Keima adopted a coaxing tone, trying to reassure Tohka even as the Spirit nodded uncertainly. Tohka did look quite adorable even while being lectured by Keima. One might even argue that she got even cuter as the large hair ribbons on top of her head gave the illusion that they were bending over in shame. Reine on the other hand, flinched again, it looks like it would be a very long time till Reine could meet Keima in the eye again, or she was just affected by Tohka's weapon-grade cuteness.

The **Capturing God **was however unperturbed as he continued telling Tohka about what she should do, how she should behave and why she should stay in Fraxinus for a while.

'They would be able to help you control your powers... you could, right, Murasame-san?'

Keima asked for confirmation, and was relieved to see Reine nodding her head.

'We will make some arrangements. In order for you to pass off as a human, we'll be giving you some lessons about the human world as well. How old are you, Tohka?'

'I don't know. The first thing I knew was being here. That I have a guardian angel, Sandalphon, and that I am a spirit. That's, all I know.'

Tohka replied even as she settled down to sit beside Keima again, Reine had the common sense to not get involved between a spirit and their love interest. Keima, on the other hand, remained completely unmoved as he digested the information that he was given by Tohka.

'Well, we can pass Tohka off as a high school girl. But Tohka, you do know, what is mathematics right?'

* * *

..

'Yes that's right. The mission was a success, but only partially so, we were unable to seal the powers of the Spirit using Shido at the moment.'

'So it was true that AST was forced to retreat in the face of a high school student? Hah! Very impressive indeed! Your brother, Itsuka Shido is truly a very promising young man!'

One of the members of the _Round_, the backer of Ratatoskr, spoke up in amusement even as the other board members agreed with him. Even if they were the backers of Ratatoskr, up till today, Kotori had only seen a few members of the _Round_ and those were individuals that Kotori were allowed to meet. One of them was of course her benefactor, the founder of Ratatoskr, but she did know that the other members of the _Round_ had high hopes for Ratatoskr and was also the bitter rivals of AST, thus their good mood. Any day that Ratatoskr was able to get the better of AST was a good day for them.

'Unfortunately it was not Shido who managed to drive them off. It was another person.'

'Oh, and who might that be? Is it someone that you know or hired, Commander Itsuka? If by yours or from Shido's actions had exposed the identity as well as the nature of the Spirits, we can't even begin to measure the repercussions if an outsider knew about this! If he decided to reveal what he knows of the spirits to the world, it wouldn't just be an international scandal and might even cause chaos around the world!'

'Please be reassured that he is indeed a member of our staff. He is Katsuragi Keima, an advisor that we had contacted to help with Shido's training. When it became apparent that he would fail his mission, I gave him the authority to contact the spirit. He performed exemplary and was able to neutralize both AST as well as the threat of the spirit by himself.'

As Kotori's report sank in, Kotori watched the board discuss amongst themselves for a moment before the spokesman cleared his throat.

'I see, although that was not what we have agreed on, or might have approved at the moment, we must still give you credit for the initiative that you showed to ensure that the mission was successful. We expect a report tomorrow morning on why you decided to authorize his actions, as well as an account of what happened during the stand-off.'

'Of course, it will be handed in tomorrow before noon.'

Kotori answered without hesitation and the _Round_ seemed to be satisfied as they murmured again.

'That individual, Katsuragi, was it? Is he a reliable and trustworthy person, Commander Itsuka?'

Kotori took a moment to think about the personality of Keima before she shook her head.

'I am unable to give a definite and conclusive answer at this point, members of the _Round_. It was never my intent to build a dedicated profile of Katsuragi Keima-san. However I am able to ascertain that Katsuragi-san is a very capable person who is more than capable to fulfil the mission we had decided for Shido.'

'I see.'

..

The _Round_ lapsed into silence for a moment before they spoke again.

'However the terms that we agreed on was to use Shido's abilities to seal away the Spirit's power... Commander Itsuka, you are ordered to ensure that will be implemented, regardless of the means that you would have to undertake to achieve it.'

The _Round_ ordered sternly even as Kotori nodded her head in acknowledgement.

'It will be done Sir, please do not worry.'

As the reporting and orders flowed from one side to another, neither of them could see or even be aware of the individual that was taking notes in the same room as Kotori. The purple haired demon was looking more put off as the conversation continued.

This was turning out to be as troublesome as she had imagined after all. What had Keima gotten himself entangled in this time?

* * *

**Author's Notes: Finally some plot advancement!**


	10. Making Bonds

Commandments of Capturing

**Chapter 10**** – ****Making Bonds**

Original Title: The World Only God Knows / 神のみぞ知るセカイ and Date A Live/デート・ア・ライブ

Original Concept by Tamiki Wakaki & Tachibana Koishi

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: An AU world where 'Date A Live' & 'The World Only God Knows' happens simultaneously.**

* * *

**Author's Notes: Thank you, ****_bowpurity_**** for the beta edit!**

* * *

..

'I'll see you tomorrow then, Tohka.'

Keima answered patiently to Tohka as the taller girl looked pitifully at Keima while wriggling her body from side to side. If his eyes were not fooling him, the hair ribbons on top of her head were also flopping about in sync with her wriggling. Like how he had mentioned earlier, due to Tohka's inexperience and naivety to the norms of human culture and behavior, her innocent and expressive expressions and movements were disgustingly adorable. They were clearly formidable enough to cause even Reine to lose focus when faced with such an adorable sight.

Keima imagined that if Tohka was gifted with a pair of dog ears and accompanied with a tail, she would no doubt be waving her tail to match. If that happened, even Keima would have to pause at that adorable sight. Thankfully though it did not materialize and Keima simply treated her like how she looked like and petted her head reassuringly like how he would to a puppy.

An adorable puppy, he might like to add, even if that was still a mean thing to describe a person.

However, as mentioned before, Katsuragi Keima was the **Capturing God** after all, and since Tohka was not his heroine, nor was she a 'target' and was simply a person that he 'saved', it was just business as usual for him.

To save the sheep that needed to be saved and guided was his duty as **God** after all.

'B-But...'

Tohka gave her the patented puppy-eyes that showed how attached she was to him, and to be honest, it had been a while since Keima had been subjected to such an 'attack'. The last time it had been executed against him was from Nakagawa Kanon, the Top Idol of Japan, and if he had not been taken out by that attack then, he was certainly not going to be affected by Tohka's attack.

'Be good and stay with Reine-san. Just like how I wouldn't want to worry you, I hope that you don't make me worry about you as well. I'll definitely see you tomorrow, Tohka.'

Keima ruffled Tohka's hair a little more gently before pinching Tohka's cheeks lightly.

'You're stronger than that, Tohka. You are, aren't you?'

Keima tried searching for the proud girl that had disappeared into the abyss of Tohka's fragile heart in order to break Tohka from this 'separation phase'. It was silly, but he didn't think that Tohka would be so clingy and insecure. He supposed that she was still worried that AST would try to get their hands on him.

'Mm mm... I am, I am... so, please don't worry about Tohka. But I worry about Keima...'

Tohka pouted as she unleashed yet another derey-derey attack straight at Keima. Clinically, Keima also noted that Reine was now slowly moving away from Tohka with her hands pinching her nose, probably in an attempt to stop a nosebleed at the diabetic inducing 'sweet' aura that Tohka was creating around her.

How clingy and derey-derey can Tohka get anyway?

..

'Tohka... if we keep on dragging this, I'll have to spend the night here.'

Keima remarked with a sigh and this time the image of Tohka wagging her tail eagerly was reinforced in Keima's mind as Tohka hurriedly latched on to Keima's arms eagerly.

'Then stay, Keima! Stay! I'll be happier and I won't need to worry about you! Keima won't need to worry about me too! I promise to protect Keima from all those mean people.'

Tohka gave a confident smile even as Keima remained unmoved, moving only to scratch his head slightly as he reminded Tohka about 'common sense'.

'Not everyone is there to hurt me, or you, Tohka. The people in Fraxinus are busy preparing your room so you could rest well. They aren't about to hurt you.'

'I-I know that! I'm not stupid after all!'

Tohka retorted even as she blushed, one hand pressed against his hips in annoyance at Keima's insinuation.

'Then you should stop talking about how you need to protect me, Tohka... people would find it suspicious. We are high school students after all. That's what you wanted right?'

'Ughhh... I... I don't really understand why I need to go to school...'

Tohka gave a sad whimper even as she looked pitiful all over again. From the preliminary knowledge test that Tohka had gone through, it was determined that she knew almost absolutely nothing except for language and some basic knowledge that was consistent with a ten year old. How she knew all that was unknown to her, she definitely didn't learn that from someone, that was sure. It was like they born out of nowhere. What he was concerned about was how there was apparently someone who could match up with Elsi in being a ditz. That comment did cause Haqua to be quite upset with Keima for obvious reasons.

'I'm a high school student, to spend time with me, you would have to attend school. Plus, attending school would definitely integrate you into human society faster, Tohka.'

Keima explained patiently for the umpteenth time today without missing a beat. Normally people would have gotten frustrated at this point, and even Keima's patience was wearing thin at how Tohka was behaving.

She was behaving just like a kid!

'I... I understand... but Keima, won't you just stay with me? Just for tonight? Please?'

Tohka was stubbornly clinging on to Keima. It seemed that even with all of his efforts to try and placate Tohka, he would not be able to get out of this, at least till his phone rang and he excused himself to take the call.

..

'Hello?'

'Ah, Keima-kun... where are you?!'

It was his mother, Katsuragi Mari, and she was extremely upset with him for her scream over the phone was enough to make Tohka flinch.

'I found someone who needed my help and I was with her.'

Keima's answer was as truthful as could be, perhaps it's a little too blunt for it made Tohka gave a startled cry in surprise. Reine on the other hand had given up utterly and was now squatting while mumbling incomprehensibly to herself. Keima's blunt answer had the intended effect for Mari too gave a startled noise of surprise before falling absolutely silent.

'K-Keima, who was that? Was it those mean people? What are you doing now? What is that?'

'My mother called.'

Keima answered patiently even as he thanked his lucky stars that Mari had called him. The news was enough to cause Tohka to go catatonic as she simply clung on harder to him without thinking about the repercussions of what might happen due to her act. Namely, how her well-endowed body was pressing against him even as Keima struggled to keep his calm.

The remaining and hidden member that was in the teleporter room was Haqua and the demon girl was rolling her eyes at what was happening again. After all the things that she had witnessed so far, she told herself to not get too worked up over every single thing that Keima did. Haqua had finally seen the _light_ so to speak, it was useless to dwell too much on Keima's action and what he would get himself to as common sense does _not_ apply to him. So why bother? In any case, getting worked up for nothing would be bad for her health in the long run.

'So, Keima-kun, let me get this straight.'

Mari sounded like she was nursing quite a headache even as Keima waited patiently for her.

'You found someone who needed your help.'

'Yes, just to make things clear, it was a girl.'

'…'

Keima knew that the suspension of belief was not swinging in his favor, but since it was already quite unbelievable, he might as well go for broke and make it as unbelievable as possible from the get go. That way he would save the trouble of explaining everything all over again later on.

'Keima-kun found a girl who needed your help.'

Mari tried again and when Keima agreed that was the case, she continued on.

'And so you helped her, right, Keima-kun?'

Mari sounded both apprehensive as well as proud, the former probably due to disbelief and the latter due to, well, him actually doing some good for once.

'Yes, I did what I could.'

'… You didn't get hurt did you? Did you hurt the girl? Did both of you get hurt?'

'No, we didn't get hurt.'

Mari sighed in relief before she got to the most important point.

'And you're still with her, why?'

'Because she still needs my help.'

Keima answered evenly and there was another long pause before Mari sighed deeply over the phone.

'You're not lying to me, are you?'

As a rule Keima doesn't lie to Mari, he just comes up with convenient excuses or 'forgotten' to inform her about several details within what he told her. It wasn't her fault that she didn't _ask_ him in more detail, like now.

'No, what I said earlier was the truth.'

'T-That's good. I'm glad for you, Keima-kun, and I'll forgive you for being late for dinner today... so when will you be coming back home? It's starting to get late, and there was a spacequake earlier in the day... be careful okay?'

Even if Keima had earlier said that he wouldn't want Tohka to spend the night at his place, if he was going to give _any_ debriefing to Elsi and Haqua, he would have no choice but to break that rule for once. He didn't like it and he certainly didn't approve of it. But it was the most efficient and effective way to deal with Tohka now, especially since it _was_ getting late.

'It all depends on when she would let me leave. She has ran away from home and has no place to go.'

Keima answered evenly and his words caused Tohka to look up at Keima, her puppy-eyes trying to tempt Keima again. Out of the corner of his eye, Keima saw Reine looking up sharply from her squatting position in confusion.

'Ah, so that person ran away from home... Well, if she had asked Keima-kun for help, that means she can't go to her friends' house right? … It's really getting quite late... I guess it can't be helped.'

Mari gave another sigh before cheering up significantly over the phone.

'It's ok, bring her home, Keima-kun. We'll let her stay at our place today. We can't allow a girl to sleep outside after all.'

That was the reply that Keima and perhaps Tohka was waiting for as he agreed to Mari's suggestion.

'We'll be right back then.'

* * *

..

'Ah, ah... I-I'm Tohka!'

Tohka bowed nervously to Mari even as the older woman smiled warmly at the runaway Spirit in front of her. Behind Tohka was Keima with a bored expression on his face, his eyes back to focusing on his PFP even as Elsi came running to the front door as well.

'You're back, Kami-Onii-sama! Ah, ahh! Who's this?'

Elsi gave Tohka a welcoming smile too even as Mari introduced herself.

'I'm Katsuragi Mari, I'm Keima-kun's mother. I've heard all about it from Keima-kun, don't worry and welcome to our home.'

Mari coaxed and welcomed Tohka in even as Keima opened the door to allow Haqua in as well.

'This is a long day, Katsuragi.'

Haqua yawned slightly and her shoulders sagged in disappointment when Keima said that it wasn't over just yet. The real battle begins tomorrow.

'But what are you going to do about Tohka? She is... a Spirit after all. Even if she's all over you at this point.'

Haqua made a face as she said that, but Keima didn't care like always even as the two of them headed to the living room where he asked Haqua whether she would like some tea.

'Ah, don't mind if I do. Thank you, Katsuragi.'

'We'll talk later on that... but right now, the sooner that I can shake Tohka of my tail, the better.'

Keima admitted without any emotion even as Haqua shook her head at how cold Keima could get, even to a girl who was obviously in love with him.

'Sadly, I'm not sure that is really the case here. As to whether it is truly love or rather an admiration for a savior... we would have the chance to determine that in a later time.'

Keima's answer made Haqua frown even as she nodded in agreement. Keima would no doubt explain himself in due course. Right now, all she could do was to reorganize the information she had and to give a detailed briefing of what had been going on in the shadows behind their backs. Especially the conversation that Kotori had with the _Rounds_.

* * *

..

'We should get you cleaned up a little. Do you have any spare clothes?'

'N-No... I don't!'

Tohka might seem to be a little cold at the start, but Mari instead associated her like a startled animal being caught in a trap. Her eyes were constantly darting about frantically and her heart went out to her. Whatever had happened to her, she was still very traumatized by it.

'Don't worry dear, we'll lend you some clothes. Elsi-chan, could you lend her one of your pyjamas and some clothes too?'

'Of course! I'll get them right now!'

'And a towel please dear!'

Even as Elsi hurried off, Mari took the time to access the situation again as Tohaka was looking curiously at her this time while being ushered into the bathroom for her to take a quick bath.

'M-Mari-san?'

'Yes, what is it Tohka-chan?'

'W-Why... are you so nice to me... why is everyone, so nice to me?'

Tohka's question made Mari pause before she gave a big smile in return.

'There's no reason why people are kind or nice to others, Tohka-chan. As for me, I just want to help Tohka-chan.'

Mari guessed that Tohka probably had very low self-esteem, and seeing how she was so frightened most of the time, she was probably right. The cause was probably whatever happened to her before she sought out Keima for help. That son of hers was surprisingly dependable at situations like this, just like his father.

'T-Then... it's the same as how people doesn't like me then?'

'… Who said that to you, Tohka-chan, how could anyone not like you?'

Mari asked cautiously for she was sure that this would was a topic that would eventually lead to a landmine if she wasn't careful. Her initial assessment of Tohka was that of a very adorable but desperately nervous girl. If she didn't know the circumstances behind Tohka being here, she would have thought that she was a girl coming to visit her boyfriend's family for the first time!

But Tohka's question made Mari even sure that something had gone terribly wrong with her for her to actually ask such a terrible question.

'Many mean people said that to me... they said... that I should die... that I shouldn't be here... Even if the people on the ship said that they don't feel that way, I, I ju -'

Before Tohka could continue on, Mari had hugged her, pressing Tohka into her chest even as she patted Tohka's head softly and gently to reassure the confused Spirit. Tohka wasn't bitter or sad about what happened between her and the AST, she hadn't known what was going on then and had fought back to save herself. Even after she had been saved by Keima, the most she had felt was nervousness as well as confusion about what would happen to her now that she was saved. She was of course afraid for Keima and what would happen to him due to her, but in general she wasn't as bothered or concerned as she was curious about how the humans would treat her.

Of course Mari didn't know that and she believed that Tohka only said that because she had been abused, bullied and perhaps even abandoned by her parents for something that wasn't her fault. Without knowing it, Tohka had earned even more points with Mari as she continued hugging her to give her comfort.

'Don't ever say that again, Tohka-chan. You shouldn't believe what those mean people say, you're a nice person Tohka-chan. No one should ever say so terrible things about you without knowing you better.'

Mari explained but then she had to give an awkward chuckle when Tohka pointed out that Mari didn't know her as well.

'I just know. Because Keima-kun believes in you, since he knows more about you and trusts you, I'll trust you as well.'

'… Keima does... Mm, he said that he'll save me. He saved me from those mean people. I'm really happy he did that, Mari!'

Tohka gave a happy chuckle even as Mari nodded her head in agreement. Her son has done some real good today by saving Tohka from those people that was harassing her.

'After we're done with the bath, let's get you something to eat, okay?'

'Eat...? O-Okay! Okay!'

Tohka cheered even as Mari turned on the hot water even as Elsi knocked to hand them a set of towels.

'Why don't Ohka-sama take a bath with Tohka-san? I'll help prepare my room for Tohka-san~ Okay, Ohka-sama?'

'Mm... why not? Is that okay, Tohka-chan?'

'A-Ahh... I... I don't... I-It's my first time...'

'Kyaa~ Tohka-chan is so cute!'

As the sounds of splashing water, giggling and struggling started to fill the bathroom, Elsi closed the door and told herself that she shouldn't get involved.

'Ohka-sama is sure excited over cute things.'

Elsi remarked cheerfully to herself even as she made her way to the two who were waiting for her in the living room.

* * *

..

'So Kami-Onii-sama was able to make a Spirit fall in love with you?'

Elsi posed the question as innocently as she could even as Keima answered in affirmative while he continued his gaming. Haqua too seemed resigned, or perhaps more amused at how Elsi could take it so easily.

'But Kami-Onii-sama... that's not like Capturing Weiss, you don't deal with the spirits by making them fall in love with you to fill the gaps in their hearts like with Weiss!'

Elsi's words made Haqua choke in surprise and in amusement, Keima himself also paused at Elsi's words before shaking his head, hand-waving the incident away.

'That might be the case, but since it happened, we should focus on what happens next.'

'That's true... but Kami-Onii-sama, would Tohka-san be staying with us for a while? Ohka-sama seems to have misunderstood what happened to Tohka-san. I think so, she was trying to comfort Tohka-san just now!'

Elsi reported even as Keima shrugged dismissively at her question.

'It would be too much of a hassle for us to get involved now. We'll let Tohka handle it, at any rate, she might be a match for you when it comes to common sense...'

'Match... for me?'

'Never mind that, do you have anything to report about what happened earlier on, Haqua?'

Elsi had been briefly brought up to date on the situation and she now knew that they were probably going to face some difficulty from the higher-ups in New-Hell for directly getting involved in this mess. Even if it was _authorized_ by Kotori, it was also a matter of fact that Keima actively accepted and took initiative for that role. Perhaps he wasn't the only person who wanted this entire fiasco to end, or it was plainly because Keima wasn't sure whether Shido would _ever_ be able to capture the Princess after that devastating setback and failure of his to account Tobiichi Origami into the equation.

It was certainly going to be awkward tomorrow, but before the conversation could continue, the doorbell to the Café rang, causing everyone to look at each other in surprise before Elsi hurried over to see who it was.

'Who could that be? Could it be Reine-san or Kotori-san?'

Haqua asked casually before Keima told her to be quiet and to watch what she was saying. Haqua was of course affronted by the rude way that he was ordering her around, but then he explained that she should not have known those people at all.

'Since you weren't introduced to them at all and I'm not the kind to gossip, you do not know them at all.'

Keima tried to press home the point a bit more till Haqua shook her head and chuckled awkwardly to try and cover up what Keima had been saying for she recognized the person who had dropped by to visit.

'I thought you said you didn't have a girlfriend, Katsuragi, but why is a girl here so late at night?'

'I am not Katsuragi's girlfriend. I am already taken.'

The visitor didn't smile at the joke Haqua cracked even as she strode purposefully to Keima with a steely expression on her face. Behind her, Elsi was unsure what to do even as Keima sighed after seeing who that was.

It was Tobiichi Origami, talk of the devil indeed.

* * *

..

'Good evening, Katsuragi.'

'Good evening... or night, Tobiichi-san... and welcome... may I ask what is the purpose of your visit?'

Keima answered even as he poured a cup of tea for Origami even as Elsi sat beside him nervously. Haqua on the other hand was hovering over at the living room uncertainly. She really did want to excuse herself to get some rest for tomorrow, but it was perhaps a good idea to just hang around for a while to see if fireworks and fur fly.

'To determine whether Katsuragi has a brain or common sense.'

Origami was as blunt with her words like Katsuragi, and the comment made Haqua dive down to hide her snickers at having his flaws being pointed out in his face. Well granted the former was probably too much, but the latter was definitely true.

'That depends on who you are. As **God**, I believe we exist in different planes, in that regard, you have no right to comment on my views as well as my common sense.'

Keima's reply made Origami pause for a moment and she visibly fought very hard to sigh deeply, giving up in the end and proceeded to ignore what Keima said earlier for the sake of her own sanity.

'If you are truly hell bent on calling yourself **God**, why are you still sheltering the **Princess**? You had seen what she has done and what she is capable of. What has she done to deserve your fanatical protection?'

'It seems that you are very worked up, Tobiichi-san, please do calm down... I am not fanatically protecting Tohka, but it is true that I have no intention of letting you or your organisation hurt her.'

'… You have no idea who she is, Katsuragi. I, we, do not care what you feel for her, or what she has told you, but the fact remains is that she _should_ die for being a threat and danger to us all.'

Origami was still fixated on that point, something that Keima was actually glad to witness, for it meant that at least she was consistent with her words and back-story, not to mention that by admitting this outright to him, she was not shying away from what he had witnessed earlier.

Even if Tobiichi Origami's route was not one that he should meddle or take part in, Keima felt that it would give a clearer picture of what and who Itsuka was for so many parties to take interest in him.

'I trust her.'

'You are putting your family and yourself at risk by doing so. She is nothing but a monster.'

Origami stressed to Keima, but was unable to continue further when another voice told her to stop.

'That's enough.'

It was Mari, and she looked very upset and angry even as Tohka clung onto her clothes behind her. Even if Tobiichi Origami didn't quite flinch or react to the angry voice behind her, she did hesitate while Keima sighed.

This was out of his hands now.

'I think it's time for you leave, Tobiichi-san...'

* * *

**Author's Notes: This is actually the most action packed day so far. I'm not sure how I feel about it.  
Thank you for your guy's support! Really appreciate it!**


	11. Back to School

Commandments of Capturing

**Chapter 11**** – ****Back to School **

Original Title: The World Only God Knows / 神のみぞ知るセカイ and Date A Live/デート・ア・ライブ

Original Concept by Tamiki Wakaki & Tachibana Koishi

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: An AU world where 'Date A Live' & 'The World Only God Knows' happens simultaneously.**

* * *

**Author's Notes: Thank you, ****_bowpurity_**** for the beta! And thank you all of you for your support! Really, I appreciate it. I hope I'll continue to do well!**

* * *

..

Katsuragi Mari was part of a biker gang before, and even if it might be a stretch to imagine her like that now for she was the very image of a demure housewife that was in charge of a café, she showed signs of her past history especially when she was riding a bike.

She wasn't known as the 'Yuki-onna of the Mountain Pass' for a reason after all, and the stories of her legend still brings shivers to the younger and softer generation of bikers that frequent the mountain pass that she made her name in.

And with her glasses off, and her hair left down, Mari looked quite intimidating as she advanced towards Tobiichi Origami, whom for the most part seemed oblivious to the growing threat that Katsuragi Mari amounted to even as Keima remained mostly unconcerned as he was not in Mari's crosshairs this time.

..

He was however, expecting sparks to fly between Origami and Mari though, but he wondered what cards would Origami play in this situation. Mari had obviously overheard the two's conversations and Keima wondered what kind of conclusion she would have drawn from all this as, let's hope it wasn't something that would jeopardize the situation even more.

That said, Keima did wonder why Tobiichi Origami was here in the first place, was she worried for him? That would be a very serious cause of concern if that was the case, but Keima was confident that it was due to Tohka since Origami had immediately highlighted her as the immediate subject matter of their little discussion.

Tobiichi Origami, Keima did like that girl's nature and her style of dealing with things. Admittedly he had not paid much attention to her even as she was part of the AST, it was already established that she was an enemy after all, one that was on the other side.

So he regretted it just a little since he found out that Shido had went out with Origami just the day before, it was totally a miscalculation on his part. Then again, from the records that he had been able to observe, he _should_ have seen it coming, it was right in front of him... perhaps he had just thought that Origami would make her move later on, but Shido totally seized the opportunity and went ahead with it anyway.

Shortest, capture, ever, Tobiichi Origami either had extremely very high love points at the get go, or she was simply desperate for Shido's attention, which basically meant the same thing as far as Keima was concerned.

To him, the **Capturing God**, the heroines were never at fault simply due to how they were only drawn to the protagonist due to some action that he had done, wittingly or unwittingly. From how Origami was referring to something that Shido was unaware of, he was sure it was the latter.

That said, he had once said before that it was the heroines themselves who choose him and it made for a very dangerous as well as difficult position for the protagonist as well.

One part of him was struggling to match up to the heroine's demands and requirements to finish their routes as a protagonist and on the other side, he was unable to blame the girls for falling in love with them.

Kind of how the _real_ was like actually, it was almost never the guys fault, but Keima digressed, this was something that he wasn't about to debate or discuss at this point.

..

'We apologize, but I am afraid that you have outstayed your welcome, Keima-kun would you please see her to the door?'

Mari did not even wish to give her the time of day, something that Keima approved of but it was not to be as Origami had other ideas as she stood up before Keima could usher her away.

'Katsuragi Mari-san. I am afraid that it is her who had outstayed her outcome.'

Pointing at Tohka, Origami's eyes narrowed even as Mari raised one hand protectively over the other girl, who was now half using Mari as a shield even as Origami continued on unchallenged. It was a stark difference from how Tohka would have usually deal with individuals like Origami, the proud and confident Princess had her confidence and will to fight completely shattered by the chain of events by the AST and Keima. One have to note that Keima was the one who _allowed_ her that as well.

'You have no idea what she and her kind has done, Katsuragi Mari-san. I came here to offer a word of warning to you as well as Katsuragi-san.'

Origami turned to give Keima a curt nod that Keima didn't even bother acknowledging for he knew what line Origami would be saying even before she voiced it. All hail the **Capturing God** indeed, but it really wasn't too hard for _anyone_ to know what Origami was going to say, the warning already delivered the moment she stepped into their home. For there was only one reason for Tobiichi Origami to actually even find interest in Katsuragi Keima and his home.

'Do not trust _that_, she is _not _what she looks like. And if you continuing harbouring _it, _you are putting yourself in harm's way, not just from _her _but from us as well. We have our orders, and you _will_ not be able to stop us from taking her away, by force if necessary.'

Before Mari could interrupt her again, Origami raised a hand to Tohka, certainly unwillingly but she offered Tohka the opportunity to go with her nonetheless.

'You would not be hurting them if you come with us peacefully now. You would have our word that we would not lay a hand on the Katsuragi household. Otherwise, you would not only be hurting yourself, but them as well.'

So that was the card that Origami was trying to play, Keima however felt a little disappointed in the timing of this card, as well as the location. Obviously Origami hadn't thought this plan through at all before she implemented it.

If it was Keima, he would have waited a few days, perhaps a week for Tohka to warm up to the Katsuragi household, for her to start trusting them, to start liking them as much as she could.

He would also definitely not play this hand in front of all of them as well, he would have played this card when he was alone with Tohka to shake the girl's confidence for him to have full control of the situation throughout the entire exchange.

By playing her card so early, the effect was not as pronounced as it could have been a few days later. Even if Tohka obviously showed sighs of getting attached to Mari right now, that could change at any moment as Tohka was still trying to adjust to the new situation she had found herself in.

Furthermore, by playing her card in front of everyone else, Origami was not even in full control of the situation, as shown earlier when Mari was able to interrupt Origami's own attempt to persuade Keima to give Tohka up.

In short, the **Capturing God** was suspicious of Origami and her actions as it was too easy to actually poke holes in it, or perhaps Origami was just very, very bad when it comes to missions like this. Keima wouldn't be too surprised if that was indeed the truth of the matter, as there were individuals who were highly specialized in what they were doing, and if one pulled them out of their comfort zone, they were next to useless.

Tobiichi Origami had never been the eloquent type, even if she might be able to speak quite well, and of course being able to deliver words with no issues, the problem lies with her inherent inability to connect to her audience or herself emotionally. There was utterly no emotion in her voice or facial expressions when she spoke, save for the few times that Keima actually saw her blush in front of Shido. There was a reason for why Tobiichi was going out with Shido right now after all, seeing that she was able to express her feelings of affection to Shido even with her emotionally detached facial expressions.

It was a mistake asking Origami to be the one to carry out this mission, and so Keima reasoned that there was probably an ulterior motive for sending Origami at the first to bat, was it to keep them on their toes? Or perhaps to distract them from other avenues of attack? Or perhaps they hoped that Mari was not as accepting as Keima?

'That's enough, Tobiichi-san.'

Even as Tohka squirmed uncomfortably again, her wide and tearing eyes staring at Mari and Keima hesitantly, probably weighing her own options like a naïve child, Mari interrupted her again, just like what Keima expected her to do, pulling Tohka into a gentle hug that caused the _Spirit_ to give a small gasp at the show of support. Tohka also started sniffling again, her hold on Mari getting stronger, perhaps a little too strong as Mari winced a little too at her strength.

'Please leave now. Tohka is nothing like what you said her to be, she's an adorable girl that is being bullied and maybe abused by you and wherever you came from. Leave now before I lose my temper. Keima-kun, please.'

Mari didn't just snap at Origami this time, she literally growled even as Keima reach out to grab Origami's shoulders a little firmer this time while slowly guiding her to the door. Surprisingly, Origami didn't seem to mind till she reached the door of the Katsuragi Household where she paused before turning back to look at Tohka again before muttering loud enough for everyone to see.

'You murderer.'

And just like that, Tobiichi Origami was gone, leaving the two women frozen where they were standing and a certain **Capturing God** silently applauding that last move by Origami. So she did know what she was doing after all, guess he had underestimated Origami just a little. That was actually quite a good move on her part!

* * *

..

'K-Keima...'

Tohka called softly and cutely from behind him even as he looked up from his PFP and turned back to witness another variant of Tohka's weapon grade cuteness. There was simply no other way to describe Tohka, who was dressed in a pair of adorable pink jammies that was too big for her, probably one of Mari's as Tohka was more developed than Elsi. Her hair wasn't fully dry from her earlier bath and so her hair stuck to the back of her pyjamas while the scent of the soap that she used struck Keima like a physical blow.

But that wasn't what made Tohka's cuteness a weapon of the highest calibre, that was achieved by how Keima could only barely see Tohka's large watering eyes peeking up from the large fluffy pillow that she was currently hugging against her protectively. Just like earlier, one could imagine large puppy ears forming on top of Tohka's head that was now lying flat cutely even as Tohka called Keima's name again.

'Keima... can I come in please?'

At least Tohka had manners and Keima nodded wordlessly even as he went back to his PFP till Tohka crawled onto his bed, where he immediately pay attention to her. Now the **Capturing God** was in no danger of losing control, he was a veteran of many similar encounters like this, only none of them had actually been so close and so 'dangerous' due to her naivety. Guess the _real_ had it's own weapons as well and the effectiveness of their weapons were two fold!

It was of course common knowledge that the more naïve the girl, the more dangerous they were in certain situations, this rule applies both to the _ideal_ and the _real, _only Keima didn't think that the _real_ would be able to pull off something like that at all.

'What's wrong, Tohka?'

Keima asked patiently even as he placed his PFP to the side to pay full attention to her. That alone seemed to reassure Tohka even more and she smiled hesitantly before placing the pillow down on her lap instead. Keima was thus greeted with the sight of Tohka's panamas fighting valiantly to keep Tohka's chest covered even as she hugged herself uncertainly, compounding to Keima's problems.

'Is... it really okay... for me to stay here?'

Keima fought the urge to facepalm at how they had exactly the same conversation, only in reverse when Keima was trying to get Tohka to _not_ come to his home for almost exactly the same reason. Granted, he didn't vocalize the reasons for doing so to her then, so perhaps it was justifiable for her to ask that question here. So Keima asked a question back to Tohka instead.

'Do _you_ wish to stay here, Tohka?'

'O-Of course I do! I want to stay by Keima's side!'

Tohka replied immediately, even pouting cutely as she did so, increasing the calibre of the weapon that was Tohka even as Keima shrugged and said that it was okay for her to stay then.

'Then why can't you stay here?'

'Because... I might cause trouble for Keima and Mari...'

Keima didn't blame Mari for freezing like that earlier, in fact if Mari had been able to take that statement and brush it off easily, Keima would have reason to believe that his mother's past wasn't as simple as he once thought.

But since Mari didn't, Keima felt that Mari's reactions was exactly what Origami had wanted to see and achieve, and it would have affected Tohka and her bonds with the Katsuragi Household sufficiently with or without her forming bonds with them in the first place.

As welcoming as Mari was, that statement would have changed things and even if Mari was still friendly, warm and welcoming to Tohka, the amount of trust that she had for Tohka would have been drastically reduced. And Tohka, this being a new environment and all, was still very sensitive to others around her, would have picked up on the change easily.

Well played, Tobiichi Origami, well played indeed. Instead of targeting Tohka directly, her plan was to attack the people around Tohka instead. Japan being a conservative country, it was a big deal to call and label someone a murderer, and one wouldn't do that unless there was some grain of truth within it. No smoke without fire after all, and from how Tohka hadn't rebutted Origami, there could definitely be smoke around Tohka. After all, the circumstances in which Tohka actually came to seek refuge in the Katsuragi Household was shady at best.

So Mari was more than justified to be a little more hesitant around Tohka than before, but Keima was still heartened to see that Mari was still quite protective over Tohka, she asking Tohka to sleep with her instead of Elsi showing that quite well.

Tohka had been twitchy since Origami's leaving, and Keima also chalked it up to a win that Tohka hadn't run off just yet to 'save' him and her family. His speech at how he wanted to save her must have stuck harder harder than he had thought it would. Just as planned then!

'You're no trouble at all... well, maybe be a little, but I expected that. Anything less would be a little worrying actually. So you're welcome to stay here for a while, Tohka, if you don't feel comfortable going back to Ratatoskr.'

Keima replied evenly even as Tohka blushed again, she trying her best to not clutch her pillow for comfort even as she blushed like a crushing school girl, which she totally was now.

'I... I would like to! That way, I can see Keima more, can't I?'

Tohka smiled happily even as Keima nodded his head in understanding, causing Tohka to break out in another one of her happy smiles before she lunged to hug Keima tightly, pressing her body against Keima happily even as he blushed at the physical contact.

'Thank you, Thank you Keima! I'll do my best to learn! And to get better on how I can live here too!'

Tohka's monologue was interrupted when naturally, Mari opened the door to ask how the two of them were doing. Of course as with all similar situations, it happened when Tohka had managed to press Keima on to his back on the bed, Tohka looking like she was straddling Keima when Mari opened the door to call her.

An awkward moment passed when Tohka realized what she was doing before she hurriedly separated from Keima, her face red and steam coming out of her ears even as Mari slowly retreated, even closing the door behind her after cupping a hand over her mouth.

However she couldn't help herself in the end and her muffled voice of: 'Please continue.' was not lost on Tohka, who ran out to chase after Mari, screaming: 'It's not what you think!' like an overused gimmick.

Well, it really was like that in any rate.

* * *

..

'Good morning everyone, this is Yatogami Tohka, a new transfer student to our class.'

Okamine Tamae beamed at her class even as Tohka walked into the room from the corridor. It didn't surprise Keima in the least to see her appear in Raizen High School, he had suspected as much when early in the morning Reine had insisted that Tohka come with them as she drove the three of them to school. When he meant drove, it actually meant Fraxinus teleporting him to school while Reine stayed back to assist Tohka in some 'arrangements', Apparently one of those arrangements was to get her to be transferred to school. It was also a forgone conclusion that it would happen, but for it to happen so soon was something that caused even Keima to be a little surprised.

Perhaps it was to protect the Katsuragi household more than anything else, seeing Tohka was still a target for AST and by leaving her alone with Mari could be a recipe for disaster that was begging to happen. Who knows what tricks AST would pull when he was away. By having Tohka away from the Katsuragi household, AST would leave them alone while focusing on Tohka elsewhere instead.

Hiding her in plain sight was brilliant as always and having her in the _exact_ same class as Tobiichi Origami was pure genius as well, for that meant that the two of them would be forced to have a cease fire without blowing their covers together. It was a good plan, and it not only reduced risk of Tohka, but for Keima as well. AST would be unable to act on Tohka without risking the lives of others, and that meant that even if Tobiichi Origami got a clear shot, she couldn't take it due to her proximity to the students.

They were basically forcing AST to take a wait and see approach for now, which would buy time for Kotori to actually help find a way to convince the higher-ups to allow Tohka to continue labelling her as a non-threat, which would kinda be a stretch if it wasn't for Keima's presence.

But not if Keima had something to do with it. Even if it might appear that she was _his_ heroine right now, that was further from the truth then it was supposed to be.

Tohka was _his_, not his... as vague as it might be, Keima hoped that Shido realized that as well. The other party involved had been unsurprisingly quite cool towards him, greeting him normally but clearly avoiding him even as he continued with his usual habits of PFP gaming.

Naturally Haqua was present as well, even if she had a very long day and wasn't able to rest as much as she liked. Keima did promise that he would end it today as well, as to end what exactly, Haqua wasn't sure, but Keima had that look in his eyes that made Haqua aware that no matter what she did at this point, Keima's mind was made up.

'I'm Yatogami Tohka... Nice to meet all of you.'

Tohka bowed to them, all flustered and adorable even as Keima veiled his amusement at seeing Shido turning just as red as all of the boys in class at how Tohka looked like. She was simply, utterly, unmistakably too cute for words, what with the oversized ribbon of hers seemingly taking a life of it's own as it bobbed up and down behind her even as she introduced herself. The look of pure happiness when Tohka finished writing her name was enough to even cause a few boys to hide their nosebleeds at how cute Tohka was.

Only Keima remained unaffected, or as unaffected as one could be as he covered his eyes slightly to hide himself from Tohka's weapon grade cuteness. It was getting unfair at this point.

'Welcome to our class, Tohka-chan! Tohka-chan is a relation of Murasame sensei, our school nurse and due to family issues, transferred to our class today. Let's all welcome her, everyone!'

The class's roar of approval made Tohka jump and she hid behind Tamae-sensei even as she scolded the boys for being too rowdy and loud, while the girls themselves looked a little lost at how adorable Tohka was, similar to an animal as she looked around anxiously before beaming at Keima.

At least she didn't call out his name immediately, but Keima felt that it was a foregone conclusion that it would happen eventually, soon too!

'Ah, it's Keima! Keima!'

True to his expectations, Tohka waved at Keima excitedly even as Keima nodded back in response, raising a hand in acknowledgement, causing many of the class to look at her in disbelief before going back to the still-gaming Keima.

'Good morning, Tohka.'

Keima replied even as Tohka beamed in reply, allowing Tamae-sensei to continue her introduction by trying to assign her a seat.

'Beside me sensei! Here!' 'No, ME!' 'Sensei, here please!'

The guys were fighting tooth and nail to get a chance to speak to the perfect beauty that was Tohka, with the exception of Keima and Shido, the latter being more confused and shocked. Keima also noted how Tobiichi Origami had narrowed her eyes and was digging her nails into her flesh in frustration at the situation. It was also the first time that Keima could visually judge Origami's emotions, no doubt this was something she wasn't prepared for. Looks like his schedule of events hadn't been affected too much by this sudden change in plans, that's good, that's very good in fact, he'll be able to stay ahead of both Ratatoskr as well as AST then.

'Hmm.. how about a seat beside Itsuka-kun? There's an empty seat there, right?'

Shido did startle this time as Tamae-sensei spotted the only true empty seat of the class, one that was beside Shido that he had Haqua thoughtfully prepare when everyone was distracted by Tohka. Shido's eyes widened in panic when he noticed that it was the seat beside Tobiichi Origami too, that was simply too much of a coincidence. If Origami was suspicious at how a table and chair would materialize suddenly beside the two of them, she didn't comment, for Ratatoskr was possible of the most impossible of tasks as well, it certainly was child's play to get a table and chair beside the two of them. The question would be why? Certainly it was to keep a tighter lid on Tobiichi Origami, but why would Keima choose that seat for Tohka in the first place?

Eventually someone was going to notice that there was something different about Keima, how things mysteriously happen around him for no good reason.

Okay, scratch that, things happened around Keima without any explanation. Everything, happened for a reason, and the reason for Keima deciding where Tohka should seat was simple, it was another step towards the goal he was aiming for.

Besides, Keima was curious about the supernatural ability that Shido was hinted to have. There _has_ to be a reason that Shido was chosen for this task, especially since Keima didn't believe for a moment that Itsuka Kotori would allow her darling Onii-chan to have another girlfriend if she could help it, that wasn't how a sister was supposed to do!

A sister character _might_ help one of the heroines to get a happy ending, but they would _never_ actively encourage their brothers to start dating, much less actually 'introduce' girls for them to meet. Even if some sisters do so accidentally, the keyword was 'accidentally', they would _never_ actively introduce their girlfriends to their brothers. There was probably a rule on that, similar to how one _should_ never date one's best friend's sister. Sadly, that rule has been broken so many times that Keima had lost count, meaning that it _was_ technically possible for Kotori to do just that.

..

Sadly however, Keima reasoned that wasn't the case. To Kotori, this was a 'mission', something that was a necessity and had to be carried out regardless of what she felt about it personally. That was why Kotori had a different 'persona' when she was the captain of the Fraxinus after all. It was a stretch, but at least Keima was more comfortable with this theory than believing Kotori would willingly accept Shido making other girls fall in love with him.

Ironically, Keima didn't or refused to acknowledge how Elsi was doing close to exactly the same thing, that was the pride of the **Capturing God** working against him, but he digressed.

Back to the topic however, Keima wanted to know exactly _what_ was Shido's powers that made him the person selected to make the Spirits fall in love with him, like he had proven before, if it was just to get the spirits to be more docile while in love, someone like him would be a much better choice. Heck, Keima was certain that the crew of the Fraxinus would be able to help Shido capture Tohka without having a confrontation with AST if they really wanted to, so the question was: 'Why Shido?'

For all he knew, Shido was an ordinary high school boy who had a very close encounter with a spacequake a few years back, but that was all. It was an incident that wasn't too uncommon, in that same district there were numerous individuals who had the same experience. Kotori too was a witness as well, and the new hell's raiment couldn't really find out anything interesting about Shido's past. Perhaps it had something to do with his physical body, that would be the next avenue of checks. Haqua was definitely not going to like this.

..

As the boys in the class protested, some of them even whispering conspiratorially that it wasn't fair for Shido to have _yet_ another girl beside him when he already had Origami, Tohka too seemed a little disappointed as she shot a longing look at Keima. Keima, for his part remained impassive, wondering how long it took for Tohka to burst out asking to seat beside him.

Surprisingly she didn't, perhaps Reine had briefed and lectured her on the proper manners, or perhaps she had been given a ear piece similar to Shido and he, allowing her to consult with the crew of Fraxinus to aid her on her quest to get acclimatized to the human world in general.

Breakfast in the Katsuragi Household had an addition of Tohka after all and seeing how Mari had pulled Tohka to the kitchen to teach her the basics of cooking without even Tohka asking, perhaps Tohka had the right idea when she insisted in staying with Keima for a while. The Katsuragi Household would be just as good as Fraxinus for Tohka to learn some common sense, and to rein in her strength a little as well. The events of last night seemed forgotten and Tohka seemed more attached to Mari than ever when Reine called out to her, which caused quite a scene till he was able to persuade Tohka to come along anyway.

It was going to be an interesting day in class, Keima could feel it inside him.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Thank you for your support. Really!**


	12. Steps Behind

Commandments of Capturing

**Chapter 12**** – ****Steps Behind**

Original Title: The World Only God Knows / 神のみぞ知るセカイ and Date A Live/デート・ア・ライブ

Original Concept by Tamiki Wakaki & Tachibana Koishi

Written by: wrathie

**Author's Notes: An AU world where 'Date A Live' & 'The World Only God Knows' happens simultaneously.**

* * *

**Author's Notes: Thank you, ****_bowpurity_**** for the beta-edit! CoC might take a small break due to my exams. Just a heads up.**

* * *

..

Keima was surprised that Tohka was able to resist calling out to him when home-room ended. He had seen her shoot several very hopeful as well as desperate glances at him as Okamine Tamae started home-room, going through the necessary announcements even as the class gossiped and whispered to themselves about there being a surprising number of transfers to the class lately.

First there was Keima and then there was Tohka, it seemed like she was going to be the centre of attention just like how he was before. The entire situation was made even more complicated when who else but Tobiichi Origami had volunteered to show her around the school. Keima supposed that it was a little difficult for him to expect Shido to do something about it, seeing how the sparks were flying between Origami and Tohka. The only comfort Keima had was that the aggression was one sided, from Origami's part. Despite having the advantage in terms of power and ability, seeing how Tohka had apparently easily overpowered the members of AST, Tohka seemed more intimidated by Origami than the other way around.

It was probably due how Tohka perceived Origami as a threat towards him that was causing her to be so nervous about her, and seeing how Origami had openly declared that she was a threat to Keima and his family's safety, Keima couldn't blame Tohka.

He was however, both touched as well as bothered at how Tohka was able to come to that conclusion herself, seeing how Tohka didn't really have much of what one would call 'common sense' in the first place.

Perhaps Keima was right the first time, Tohka might be similar to Elsi in terms of how she knew next to nothing about the human world, but she at least had enough knowledge of the world to keep herself out of trouble. Tohka had at least some common sense and was street smart.

Unlike how Elsi had been like at the start, Tohka was extremely shy around people, at least for now. That affliction might be due to her experiences with AST, Keima did not blame her for being cautious and unsure of how to deal with the differences.

He refused to give Tohka any advise to help with the situation for her own good, she'll have to learn how to deal with people the hard way. However, Keima was sure that Tohka would be welcomed with open arms just like how Elsi was when she was integrated into class as well.

Considering how Tohka was much more adorable than Elsi, her reactions much more extreme as well as how naïve she was, Keima doubted that anyone would dislike her, AST and Origami aside of course.

..

When home-room ended, the entire class gathered around Tohka just as he had expected to try and get to know her better. Especially the boys, but Keima was sure that the girls would help her if they got a little too forward. Girls would mostly stuck for their own, unless they perceived the individual to be a threat to their love life. Seeing how Tohka was too naïve to actually do that, Keima had confidence that leaving Tohka to her own devices would be the better choice as he sought out the individual who knew most about the situation right now beside him: Tobiichi Origami.

It was also worth noting how Itsuka Shido was distracted himself, the boy pressing a hand on his ear even as he mumbled to himself. He was no doubt getting an update from Kotori about the situation, he on the other hand had other things to worry about as he strode to stand beside Tobiichi Origami, the pale-blue haired girl looking up to him the moment he cleared his throat and called out to her.

'…'

Her eyes were sharp like daggers and Keima could see that she was gripping a pencil so hard in one hand that it was about to snap in half. That pencil did snap in half when Keima said that Tohka would be in her care today, and one would be hard-pressed not to flinch when Origami glared while opening her hand to allow the pencil that she had snapped to drop to the floor. It was like an unspoken threat to Keima on what would happen if he continued to press his luck.

Unfortunately, Keima wasn't an ordinary person and he didn't flinch but simply whispered that if it was so easy to read her emotions, it was going to be hard for her to maintain her cover.

His comment would surely make Origami even angrier, but true to Keima's expectations, she was able to keep her temper in check after taking a few deep breaths. She was still suspicious of him though as she questioned about his motives softly.

'What is it that you are after, Katsuragi.'

'I am simply trying to ensure that you won't try to attack Tohka while bringing her around school. Whatever your plan is, it is advisable to keep to your cover. Shido would no doubt be accompanying you as well.'

Keima answered reasonably even as Origami stiffened, making Keima raise an eyebrow at that reaction. Was she really going to try to do exactly just that? Yes, there was logic and precedent in saying that the more simple the plan, the better, but if Origami was hoping that she would be able to off Tohka, or even to attack her in school as her guard was lowered, Keima might have to readjust her threat level again.

Then again, maybe she was just nervous at being able to spend time with Shido. Girls in love were unpredictable after all, and even if Origami was a very skilled and disciplined member of AST, girls were simply different in front of the objects of their affection.

Perhaps she might even display another side of her in front of Shido and Tohka, that wouldn't be a bad thing overall.

'So Tohka will be in your and his care. It would be best for me to remind you that Tohka, is...'

Keima paused for a moment before smirking and tilting her head towards the gaggle of girls. At his cue, Origami did indeed turn to look at what was Tohka was up to and subsequently froze when she saw them actually all giggling at the confused expression on Tohka's face. Whatever the conversational topic was about, Tohka's naivety had probably won over all the girls despite her being more attractive than all of them.

There were studies conducted that showed that there was a slight bias involved when girls choose their friends, they were more likely to hang out in cliques that were closer to them in terms of appearance, rather than with interest and likes which boys were more inclined to do so.

Girls were also more willing to befriend individuals who were perceived as more... lower in the hierarchy, or perhaps more submissive to them than those who weren't. Strong individuals were more likely to gravitate and draw weaker individuals to be with them after all, the world was a political and relationship mind game no matter where one goes.

Tohka was an extremely attractive individual and there was no doubt that her appearance would cause a change in the power structure of the girls within the class and even among Raizen High School as a whole if Tohka did nothing.

If Tohka was an ambitious and manipulative person, it would be easy for her to win the hearts and to even establish a fan club among the guys in less than three days as she had everything going for her.

Fortunately, Tohka was not like that, she was naïve, innocent and had no wish to hurt anyone. Her only wish was to be accepted, and to spend time with him. The latter was something not quite ideal, but the first part was definitely achieved.

Tohka wasn't a natural air-head, she had to be reasonable smart to be able to combat AST and she wasn't helpless like a baby like he had first assumed her to be. She had plenty of street sense and even if it was tuned for survival, it was undoubtedly still there, meaning that she was like a wild animal that was being introduced to life inside a warm home.

Well, so Keima did admit that Tohka was like an adorable wild animal, what was the harm in it? It made a good metaphor and comparison as well!

Some of the girls started petting Tohka's hair, causing the confused girl to look mad for moment before being even more confused. She was probably unable to get mad at them due to how they still seemed to be treating her nicely and was not bullying her.

Like how it had appeared to Keima, Tohka might instinctively portray herself like a small kitten, too cute, naive and adorable that no one could resist her charms even if she seemed more than a little hare-brained.

'She's fitting in very well. Try not to bully her too much, Origami-san. It'll be for the best, for you and for her if you treat her will.'

Keima gave Origami a smug and knowing grin before he left her to her own devices, Keima also purposely ignored the way that way that Origami's shoulders shook in anger as he walked over to Tohka.

..

The _Princess_, the Spirit and the embodiment of all the cuteness a kitten or a puppy had perked up immediately upon seeing Keima walking towards her at long last.

'K-Keima!'

The girls that were surrounding her was both surprised as well as disturbed at the sound of Tohka being so _happy_ at mentioning Keima's name that they surely thought it was another Keima that she was calling out for.

But no, it _was_ Katsuragi Keima, the transfer student and the oddest individual in the class that Tohka had happily latched on to while beaming up at him.

Still, they could not deny the look of total happiness on Tohka's face as she tried to tell him about the friends that she had made in class so far.

'You see, I did it! I made more than three friends today!'

Tohka was positively beaming and glowing, and that happy smile made any doubts that Tohka didn't really like Keima die off just as easily as they were formed.

'Erm... Tohka-chan?'

'Yes, Ai-san!'

Tohka turned around just as quickly when she was being called by one of the girls, Yamabuki Ai if Keima recalled correctly, dragging Keima a little as she smiled at her new friend.

'Y-You really met Katsuragi before?'

Ai seemed surprised, and more than a little curious. She was one of the individuals who had approached Keima out of curiosity as well together with two other girls that were around Tohka's seat right now. If he recalled, the three of them were Ai, Mai and Mii.

If this was the _ideal_, Keima would have no doubt that they were probably the comedic relief trio in the sidelines. But the _real_ was not as harsh as the ideal, supporting characters were main characters of their own lives after all.

Keima hadn't exactly been polite to the three of them, but he hadn't exactly been rude to them either as the three girls were content to just have a quick and brief conversation before taking off. That was also why he hadn't had the _opportunity_ or the time to insult or offend them in some way. The best way to get along with the **Capturing God** was not to acknowledge him, it was to either ignore or to accept his eccentricity and just live with it.

It was a motto that the three girls had lived with, happy to dabble a little in the social life of everyone like busybodies, but never as close as the bonds between the three of them. Everyone was associates to the three of them, but not quite close friends.

Perhaps Tohka was too adorable for them to just ignore, or perhaps Keima interrupted the three of them while they were making their self introductions.

The other girls however, simply froze as Tohka nodded to Ai, the same blissful and happy smile paired with Keima's impassive look. No wait, that wasn't an impassive look, was it? It was something different, they being girls, they just _knew_.

Well, looks like there _really_ was something different in their relationship!

* * *

..

Haqua du Lot Herminium had seen many things in her time, one of them was acknowledging that there were others who were much more skilled, resourceful and ruthless in their execution of plans.

Haqua was a demon from New Hell, and she took pride in being a valedictorian as well, meaning that she was the top student of her year. What's more, she was also promoted as a District Chief recently, meaning that her efforts and skills were recognized as one of the elite in New Hell despite not having horns like the elites.

Still, one person had utterly crushed her pride and left her hanging in disbelief at his strength and that person was Katsuragi Keima. Compared to him, most demons of New Hell couldn't compare and even if Haqua did try her best to get better in her skills and strategies, she was always four to five steps behind Keima.

However one of the most important things that she learnt about Keima and something that she kept very close to her heart was that Keima was actually quite an attractive individual.

His features were flawless and his figure was slim, slender and not quite well built. Some would even call him a little feminine. It was something akin to a miracle that he looked as well as he did as with all the above characteristics paired together with the glasses that he wore, Keima pulled off the scholarly look quite well.

Haqua had never seen Keima without his glasses, apparently only a handful of individuals _had _actually got to see that. To be honest, Haqua was a little curious about that, not that she would ever admit it out loud of course.

But in a nutshell, Keima was quite cute if one ignored his negative and crazy reputation along with his gaming and utterly rude personality.

So that was about 80% of what people would actually judge a person with, but Haqua digressed.

But the point was that there were individuals who actually viewed _Keima_ as cute. Haqua almost choked on her own laughter the moment she heard of that in passing while placing pieces of her raiment all around Raizen High School.

That someone would actually thought that Keima was cute was sure insanity, but it was also a cold hard fact that Keima did in fact capture more than 18 Weiss by himself.

Perhaps he wasn't doing so with his looks, but the sheer fact that he was able to at least get the girls to be interested enough and subsequently fall in love with him was a sign that he wasn't _shabby _looking.

Knowing that there were still girls able to call him _cute_ was still something that Haqua thought was ridiculous though.

But in this instance, with the softening of Keima's normally impassive expression towards Tohka, most likely due to the most _adorable_ expression in the world by Tohka, Haqua felt that Keima's reputation had gone up tremendously.

If Keima wasn't careful, this small act and association with Tohka might actually remake his entire reputation in Raizen High School.

Whether it was for the best, Haqua wasn't sure for she could see that some of the girls were staring more at Keima than Tohka even as the Princess explained that the Keima helped her and they had became friends after that.

..

Friends... as if.

Haqua knew that Tohka wanted more, she wasn't ashamed of that fact but most likely Reine had advised Tohka not to say that out loud. It was good advice and Haqua hoped that she will continue to keep it for a while.

'R-Really, I didn't think that you were up to doing anything besides playing your games, Katsuragi.'

Ai seemed more impressed than surprised in the end as she studied Keima for a while longer as Haqua snickered. The other two tag-along girls nodded in agreement even as Tohka blushed a little.

Of course, this was just too good to pass up and Haqua made a face at Keima, who twitched a little, hinting that at least he saw that. It was quite an achievement actually for him to actually effectively ignore her presence, keep a listening ear to Rataotskr, who were no doubt still tracking Keima with the microphone in his ear as well as to keep up the interactions with the others.

'I was just at the right place at the right time to help Tohka.'

Keima explained reasonably, giving the truth while keeping the rest of the details vague. It was _never_ going to work on the inquisitive girls at all as the second girl, Hazakura Mai asked if the two of them were going out.

The question was phrased in the most direct manner possible, meaning that there was no way that Keima could avoid the question. Thankfully or perhaps disastrously however, it was directed to Tohka instead, the Spirit turning pink even as she looked down, the hair ribbon on her head seemingly mirroring her by drooping down as she couldn't give an answer.

It was pure chaos soon after that, for some of the girls squealed before hugging Tohka, repeatedly telling her that she was so cute while the others simply waited for Keima to answer.

For his part, Keima seemed to be put on a spot, which was uncommon, but Haqua thought she could see the gears turning in his head as he plotted his path and plans in his mind.

The **Capturing God **was up to something, and these poor girls would be his poor pawns. Haqua would feel sorry for them if she knew them, but since she didn't, she didn't.

It would be their fault for underestimating the boy in front of them, a sort of payback for dismissing and giving him the cold shoulder so soon. Haqua knew that it wasn't exactly all their fault as Keima wasn't the most social person, but the entire class pretty much ignored him within one to two days even if he was a transfer student.

Having Tohka be familiar and happy to see him would definitely change that, but before that... Keima wanted something.

'Katsuragi? Are you... really going out with Tohka?'

One of the girls finally mustered the courage to Keima again, and this time Keima answered with a shrug and a small smile. It wasn't a big one, but it was certainly the first time that Keima had showed an actual _smile_ and not a grin.

'It's complicated... you'll have to ask Shido-san that.'

And he excused himself just as abruptly, passing by the gaggle of girls that were hugging and teasing Tohka. For her benefit, Tohka was just too distracted to hear what Keima had said.

Tobiichi Origami however did and she reacted instantly, standing up so quickly that she bowled over the chair she was sitting on by sheer force alone. She also ignored the way her knees had slammed against the table painfully to walk over to the clueless Shido, who was still occupied with his conversation with Ratatoskr.

Oooh, pushing away the responsibility... Well played, **Capturing God**, well played!

Haqua could just imagine the evil smile on Keima's face as he sat back to his chair, picked up his PFP and went back to his games.

* * *

..

'That was uncalled for, Katsuragi-san.'

It was to no one's surprise that Ratatoskr and the Fraxinius had things to say about what Keima had said on the fly. Still, they were facing against Katsuragi Keima, and seeing what he was capable of, Itsuka Kotori was being cautious as to how to approach him.

Normally she'd have Reine give the warning, but the head analyst of the Fraxinius had put up the white flag in surrender. It was the first time that _anyone_ had seen her admit that there was utterly _nothing_ she could do against someone or anything. She was the head analyst, and she was supposed to come up with strategies and plans through the judicious use of analysing data and information that was collected. Reine was an exceptionally good as she had been one of the few that had designed the system that the Fraxinus uses to track the girl's affection scores and their contentment level at any one time.

If she couldn't or wouldn't even _try _to understand Keima, that meant that Reine herself was outmatched against him. Reine refused to say anything about the matter besides saying that Keima was probably mad, or crazy, or not human, or a combination of the three.

It was disturbing to see Reine utterly refuse to even _try_ at all, even claiming that she rather _sleep_ than to do that, causing Kotori to back off. She was down an ally to help rein in this outrageous loose cannon that was Katsuragi Keima. Despite his success, if he was going to continue to set his own agenda and goals, she'd have no choice but to take him out of the game. By force if necessary, it was for the good of the world. Power like this, should be controlled and not abused!

'What is uncalled for?'

Keima replied patiently even as he continued with his games blatantly in class without a care of anyone else. Kotori would reprimand him about it if she hadn't did the same.

It had been so promising at the start of the day, with Reine reporting that Tohka had actually been successful in integrating with the class, all the nervousness gone from the day before.

Reine had surmised that it was due to what had happened over at the Katsuragi household last night, they had seen Tobiichi Origami enter the Katsuragi household and come out unscathed, being escorted out by Keima and his sister.

But as to what had actually happened, they were in the dark as cameras were not installed in the Katsuragi household. They _were_ going to install them only for them to be forestalled by Keima himself, who stated that it was a breach of contract for them to pry into his privacy any longer. Being reasonable, they had withheld that necessary evil for today and try again tomorrow.

The fact that they didn't know what actually happened inside the household, what was the exchanges, who was involved was killing all of them in Ratatoskr as Keima simply stated that they had a small chat together with his family.

Now Keima knew explicitly that he was _not_ authorized to disclose information about AST, Ratatoskr as well as the Spirits to anyone else and she trusted him to keep his word. But that didn't mean that Tobiichi Origami of AST was bound by those rules. Well, she probably was, but being Keima, Kotori had the gut feeling that he _would_ be able to trick or manipulate Tobiichi Origami enough to spill the beans to his family.

For all she knew, that was _exactly_ why Keima relented and welcomed Tohka to his family to rest. The story of spirits was as ridiculous as it comes, even when all of them were used to Space Quakes, claiming that girls like Tohka was the cause really was pushing the limits.

Especially since the background checks had shown that Katsuragi Mari as well as Katsuragi Elsi were both very kind and friendly individuals, it would be doubly hard for them to accept that Tohka was a dangerous and powerful individual at all.

But all those were just theories, possibilities and might not be accurate at all.

Kotori was over-thinking things, wasn't she?

..

'You know full well what was uncalled for, Katsuragi-san. No, **Capturing God-san **are you mad at me because I didn't pay enough respect to you today? We did all that you asked us for, it wasn't easy to facilitate her transfer to the class in such a short notice... but is this how you repay our efforts?'

Normally the banter between the two of them was a mixture of respect as well as exasperation at Keima's outrageousness, but this time she was quite upset at what Keima had done.

With just one remark, Keima had decreased Origami as well as almost all of the girl's affection levels with Shido, Tohka excluded, and increased his own in one fell swoop. Kotori had tagged Keima as an individual who wouldn't be interested in harems, had she been wrong?

Biting her lip unhappily, Kotori started when Keima replied slowly, asking if it was about what he said before in class.

'Of course it was about that! Why did you say that?! Now everyone thinks that there is a love triangle going on between Shido, Tohka and Origami with you as the third party in Shido and Tohka's relationship! I didn't say that I would authorize that!'

'But you did not disapprove of it, didn't you?'

'No I didn't... but is this really the best way?'

'The best? No... the fastest? Yes.'

Hearing Keima's answer, Kotori slammed her hand on the desk in front of her in frustration even as the rest of the crew of Fraxinus was a little confused.

'Pardon me, commander... but what are the two of you discussing?'

Kyouhei, the vice-commander asked cautiously for the rest of the crew even as they listened on.

'Katsuragi-san is taking a huge gamble with this move... I don't like it, but... It just might work.'

'All he has succeeded in was creating a love triangle... That is difficult to resolve, commander. I do not see the purpose of him doing so at all.'

Kyouhei couldn't see the connections for Keima's actions and Kotori sighed before telling him to think through _all _the implications of Keima's actions.

..

Shido was supposed to be trained to get all the Spirits to fall in love with him after all, but thanks to Keima that might not even work!

His reputation hadn't been _that_ bad, but it was exactly where they wanted Shido to be. Him going out with Origami hadn't been the best plan, but they could work around it with some difficulty, but now that this happened, there was no way that he could actually approach Tohka to seal her powers away without getting Origami mad... So...was Keima trying to break Origami and Shido apart?

To Kotori's side, Kyouhei blinked to himself while mumbling.

'-Katsuragi-san, he could not have planned for this... could he?'

His jaw dropped to the floor as he pondered the future implications of this action, would Keima's gamble pay off?

'That bastard.. he's really a bastard alright. But he's a good bastard...'

Kotori mumbled to herself. Although she knew that this was the most obvious way to get Shido nearer to Tohka, she couldn't really approve it due to the risks involved.

The two of them hadn't ended up together like what was planned, but obviously Shido had made an impression before he was dragged away by Origami. Even if it had been Keima who had succeeded, an impression was still an impression and from the way that Tohka was still at least neutral to Shido, recognizing him and even acknowledging knowing him, it was a good sign.

However, like Keima said, it wasn't ideal for a member of Ratatoskr to be close to a member of the AST.

Even if it might hurt, Kotori agreed with Keima that Shido would have to break up with Origami. The problem was actually _how _to do so without Origami being out for blood, or god forbid, refusing to give up.

It was one thing to have a harem of girls interested in an individual or getting an individual to help conquer another girl with an established girlfriend. But it was another thing to have an obsessive stalker trying to rekindle a relationship while the individual tries to capture the heart of another individual. Even without Origami in the picture, Kotori wasn't a fan of the situation but circumstances, circumstances made it hard for her not to accept it.

No doubt that Origami would never allow Shido to get close to another girl unless she gave up, and most definitely not another spirit! That was the whole point of that remark, to isolate and to fix the problem within themselves before it could _truly_ go out of hand.

'Bastard... you could have told us.'

Kotori sniffed unhappily even as the others on board Fraxinus watched as the smirk on their commander's face grow with each second she swore.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Nothing from me this time. Thank you for your support! Till the next time!**


End file.
